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Cliche Braun, Clement & Cie. 

MADEMOISELLE DE MONTPENSIER 

She is holding the portrait of her father, Gaston D'Orleans 

From the painting by Pierre Bourgnignon in the Musee de Versailles 

By permission of Messrs. Hachette & Co. 



Louis XIV 

and 

La Grande Mademoiselle 

16S2-1693 



Bv 



Arvede Barine 

Author of " The Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle" 



Authorised English Version 



G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York and London 

ttbc fjnicf^erbocfter press 

1905 



LIBRARY of congress] 


Two Copies 


Received 


DEC 6 


1905 


CoDyright Entry 


CLASS <X XXc, No. 
COPY B. 



Copyright, 1905 

B¥ 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 



TTbe ttnidterbocbec ipreee, "new ]l7orli 



PREFACE 

IN the volume entitled The Youth of La Grande 
Mademoiselle I have tried to present the con- 
ditions of France during the period in which the 
ancient liberties of the people and the turbulent 
society which had abused its privileges suffered, 
in the one case death, in the other extinction. 

As is always the case, a lack of proper discipline 
had prepared the way for absolute rule, and the 
young King who was about to assume full power 
was an enigma to his subjects. The nearest rela- 
tives of Louis had always found him impenetrable. 
The Grande Mademoiselle had been brought up 
side by side with her cousin, but she was entirely 
ignorant of his real character, knowing only that he 
was silent and appeared timid. In her failure to 
understand the King, Mademoiselle showed herself 
again a true child of her century. 

At the moment in which the Prince assumed full 
power, his true disposition, thoughts, and beliefs 
were entirely hidden from the public, and Saint- 
Simon has contributed to this ignorance by pro- 
longing it to posterity. Louis XIV. was over 
fifty when this terrible writer appeared at Court. 
The Memoires of Saint-Simon present the portrait 
of a man almost old ; this portrait however is so 



iv Preface 

powerful, so living that it obliterates every other. 
The public sees only the Louis of Saint-Simon ; 
for it, the youthful King as he lived during the 
troubled and passionate period of his career, the 
period that was most interesting, because most 
vital, has never existed. 

The official history of the times aids in giving a 
false impression of Louis XIV., figuring him in a 
sort of hieratic attitude between an idol and a 
manikin. The portraits of Versailles again mask the 
Louis of the young Court, the man for whose favour 
Moliere and the Libertines fought with varying 
chances of success. 

In the present volume I have tried to raise a 
corner of this mask. 

The M^moires of Louis XIV., completely edited 
for the first time according to any methodical plan 
in i860, have greatly aided me in this task. They 
abound in confessions, sometimes aside, sometimes 
direct, of the matters that occupied the thoughts of 
the youthful author. The Grande Mademoiselle, 
capable of neither reserve nor dissimulation, has 
proved the next most valuable guide in the attempt 
to penetrate into the intimate life of Louis. As re- 
lated by her, the perpetual difficulties with the 
Prince throw a vivid light upon the kind of incom- 
patibility of temper which existed at the beginning 
of the reign between absolute power and the sur- 
vivors of the Fronde. 

How the young King succeeded in directing his 
generation toward new ideas and sentiments and 



Preface v 

how the Grande Mademoiselle, too late carried 
away by the torrent, became in the end a victim to 
its force, will be seen in the course of the present 
volume, provided, that is, that I have not over- 
estimated my powers in touching upon a subject 
very obscure, very delicate, with facts drawn from 
a period the most frequently referred to and yet in 
some respects the least comprehended of the entire 
history of France. 

A. B. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

Exile — Provincial Life — Conversation at Saint-Fargeau — Senti- 
ment towards Nature in the Seventeenth Century — Differences 
between Mademoiselle and her Father — Mademoiselle Returns 
to Court ........... 1-57 

CHAPTER II 

The Education of Louis XIV. — Manners — Poverty — Charity — Vin- 
cent de Paul, a Secret Society — Marriage of Louis XIV. — His 
Arrival at Power on the Death of Mazarin — He Re-educates 
Himself 58-1 iq 

CHAPTER III 

Mademoiselle at the Luxembourg — Her Salon — The "Anatomies" 
of the Heart — Projects of Marriage, and New Exile — Louis 
XIV. and the Libertines — Fragility of Fortune in Land — Fetes 
Galantes .......... 120-184 

CHAPTER IV 

Increasing Importance of the Affairs of Love — The Corrupters of 
Morals — Birth of Dramatic Music and its Influence — Love 
in Racine — Louis XIV. and the Nobility — The King is 
Polygamous ......... 185-236 

CHAPTER V 

The Grande Mademoiselle in Love — Sketch of Lauzun and their 
Romance — The Court on its Travels — Death of Madame — An- 
nouncement of the Marriage of Mademoiselle — General Conster- 
nation — Louis XIV. Breaks the Affair. .... 237-303 

vii 



viii Contents 

CHAPTER VI 

PAGE 

Was Mademoiselle secretly Married? — Imprisonment of Lauzun — 
Splendour and Decadence of France — La Chambre Ardente — 
Mademoiselle Purchases Lauzun's Freedom — Their Embroilment 
— Death of the Grande Mademoiselle — Death of Lauzun — 
Conclusion .......... 304-377 



Index 



379 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Mademoiselle de Montpensier . . . Frontispiece 

She is holding the portrait of her father, Gaston d'Or- 
leans. From the painting by Pierre Bourguignon in the 
Musee de Versailles, By permission of Messrs. Hachette 
&Co. 



y 



Anne Marie Louise d'Orl^ans, Duchesse de Mont- 
pensier 

From the enamel by Petitot in the South Kensington 
Museum. 



Cardinal de Retz 

Showing him in his coadjuteur days. After the painting 
by Deveria. 



24 



Julius Hardouin Mansart 

After the painting by Vivien. 



26 



Jean de la Fontaine ..... 

From an engraving by Grevedon. 

Louis XIV. as a Boy, Dedicating his Crown 
After the painting by Greg Huret. 



54 
62 



Louis XIV. as a Young Man 

From a chalk drawing in the British Museum Print Room. 



72 



Francois de la Rochefoucauld .... 
From the engraving by Hopwood after the painting by 
Petitot. 



130 



Hel^ne Lambert, Madame de Motteville 

After the painting by De Largilliere. 



150 



X Illustrations 



From the engraving by Flameng after the painting by 
Petitot. 



PAGE 



Louise de la Valliere 154 ^ 

J 



Jean Baptiste Colbert 170 

After the painting by Champaign. 



172 



"Pleasures of the Island of Enchantment." 
Scene on the First Day of the Play, before 

THE King at Versailles 

From the engraving by Israel Silvestre. 

" Pleasures of the Island of Enchantment." Sec- 
ond Day ........ 174 

From the engraving by Israel Silvestre. 

General View of the Chateau of Versailles . 176 

From the engraving by Israel Silvestre, 1664. 

The Front of the Louvre in Course of Erection . 178 

From the engraving by S. le Clerc, 1677. 

Jean Baptiste Poquelin Moliere .... 180 

After the painting by Noel Coypel. 

Madame Henriette d'Orleans 194 

From the painting by Mignard in the National Portrait 
Gallery. (Photograph by Walker, London.) 

Madame de Montespan 200 

From the engraving by Flameng after the painting by 
Mignard. 

La Voisin 206 

From a print in the Bibliotheque Nationale. 

Jean Baptiste de Lulli 216 

After a contemporary print by Bonnart. 

BOILEAU 220 

After the painting by H. Rigaud. 

Due DE Lauzun 244 

By permission of Messrs. Hachette & Co, 



Illustrations xi 

PAGE 

Madame de Sevigne ....... 282 

From the painting by Pietro Mignard in the Uffizi Gal- 
lery, Florence. (Photograph by Alinari.) 

View of the Palace and Gardens of the Tuileries 330 
From an engraving by Israel Silvestre, 1673. 

View of the Residence of Colbert, Showing also 

HIS Seal ........ 332 

From an engraving by Israel Silvestre, 1675. 

View of the Chateau of Versailles, Showing the 

Fountain of the Dragon ..... 334 

From an engraving by Israel Silvestre, 1676. 

DUCHESSE DE LA VaLLIERE AND HER CHILDREN . . 336 

From the painting by P. Mignard in the possession of the 
Marquise d'Oilliamson. 

Louise de la Valliere, in the Garb of the Order 

of the Carmelites ...... 338 

After the painting by D. Plaats. 

Madame de Maintenon ...... 340 

After the painting by P. Mignard in 1694, 



LOUIS XIV. AND LA GRANDE 
MADEMOISELLE 



CHAPTER I 

Exile — Provincial Life — Conversation at Saint-Fargeau — Sentiment 
towards Nature in the Seventeenth Century — Differences betvi^een 
Mademoiselle and her Father — Mademoiselle Returns to Court. 

THE Fronde was an abortive revolution. It was 
condemned in advance, the leaders having 
never clearly known what ends they were seeking. 
The consequences of its failure proved to be of 
profound importance to France. The civil disor- 
ders existing between 1648 and 1652 were the last 
efforts of the French against the establishing of 
absolute monarchy, to the strengthening of which 
the entire regency of Anne of Austria had tended. 
The end of these disorders signified that the nation, 
wearied and discouraged, had accepted the new 
regime. The result was a great transformation, 
political and moral, so great that the Fronde may 
be conside'ed as clearly marking a separation be- 
tween two periods of French history — a deep 
abyss as it were between the times which precede 
and those which follow. 



2 Louis XIV. and 

The leaders of the Fronde had been dispersed 
by the return of the King to his capital on Octo- 
ber 21, 1652. When the exiles returned, some 
sooner, some later, the last after the Peace of 
the Pyrenees (November 7, 1659), so great a 
change had taken place in ideas and customs 
that more than one exile felt himself in a strange 
land. 

It was necessary to adjust oneself to the new- 
atmosphere. It was very much the same situation 
— though the Frondeurs were under much lighter 
accusations — as that experienced by the dwiigrds 
returning under the Consulate. The Princess, the 
events of whose heroic years have been related, 
offers an excellent example of this condition. 

When the Grande Mademoiselle, who had urged 
on the civil war in order to force Louis XIV. into 
marriage with herself, obtained at the end of five 
years, permission to return to Court, she brought 
with her the old undisciplined habits which were no 
longer in fashion, and in the end incurred much that 
was disagreeable. Exile had not weakened her 
pride. According to a celebrated formula, she had 
learned nothing, she had forgotten nothing; she 
remained that person of Impulse of whom Mme. de 
Sevlgne said, " I do not care to mix myself with 
her Impetuosities."-^ 

Far be It from me to reproach Mademoiselle ! 
all honour be to her who stood firm in the age of 
servility which succeeded the Fronde ! In other 

'Letter of January 19, 1689. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 3 

respects exile had been most healthful for her. She 
had been obliged to seek in herself resources the 
finding of which surprised her. Mademoiselle 
naively admires herself in her Mimoires ^ for never 
having experienced a single moment of ennui " in 
the greatest desert in the world," and surely she 
deserves praise, as her first experiences at Saint- 
Fargeau would have crushed most women. 

The reader will be convinced of this if he im- 
agines himself in her company the night of arrival 
in the early days of November, 1652. At the 
end of The Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle we 
left her weeping without shame before her entire 
suite. Her dream of glory had evaporated. Anne- 
Marie-Louise d'Orleans would never be queen of 
France. She would take no more cities ; pass no 
more troops at review to the sound of trumpet and 
cannon. Three weeks previous, the great Conde 
had treated her as a companion in arms. She re- 
joiced the soldiers by her martial carriage, and any 
one of them would have been not only surprised 
but very indignant if it had been suggested that 
she was capable of being almost as cowardly as her 
father, the '' triste Gaston." 

Now all that was finished, even the romantic 
flight. While playing hide-and-seek with im- 
aginary pursuers, the Grande Mademoiselle had 
fallen into a state of physical and moral prostration. 
The heroine of Orleans and of Porte Saint-Antoine 
sobbed like a little child because she " had too 

^ Mimoires de Mademoiselle de Montpensier. Edited by Cheruel. 



4 Louis XIV. and 

much grief " and was " too afraid " ^ ; the aspect of 
her future home had taken away the last remnants 
of courage. 

The Chateau of Saint-Fargeau, begun under 
Hugh Capet and often repaired, particularly during 
the fifteenth century, seemed more like a fortress 
than a peaceful dwelling. Its heavy mass dominated 
the valley of the Loing, a region of great and dense 
forests, with few clearings. Itself enveloped with 
brushwood and protected by deep moats, the 
chateau harmonised well with the surroundings. Its 
windows opened at a great height above the 
ground, and its towers were strong. The body of 
the building was massive and bare, united by strong 
ramparts forming an enceinte irregular with severe 
appearance. 

The ensemble was imposing, never smiling. Saint- 
Fargeau, long uninhabited, was almost a ruin filled 
with rats at the time when Mademoiselle presented 
herself as a fugitive. She was shown into a room 
with a prop in the centre. Coming from the palace 
of the Tuileries, this sight overwhelmed her, and 
made her realise the depth of her fall. She had an 
access of despair : " I am most unfortunate to be 
absent from Court, to have only a dwelling as ugly 
as this, and to realise that this is the best of my 
chateaux." Her fear became terror when she dis- 
covered that doors and windows were lackinof. A 
report came from a valet that she was sought for 
imprisonment, and she was too confused to reflect 

1 Mimoires de Mademoiselle de Montpensier . Edited by Cheruel. 



_^ ■ 


^^#'**^^" 


"""^^"^"^^K 









ANNE MARIE LOUISE D'ORLEANS, DUCHESSE DE MONTPENSIER 

From the enamel by Petitot in the South Kensington 

Museum 



La Grande Mademoiselle 5 

that if the King had ordered her arrest locks would 
have been useless. 

She continued her journey to reach a little cha- 
teau, situated two leagues from Saint-Fargeau, which 
was reported safer. *' Imagine," says she, " with what 
pleasure I made the extra journey. I had risen 
two hours before daylight ; I had ridden twenty-two 
miles upon a horse already worn out with previous 
travel. We arrived at our destination at three in the 
morning; I went to bed in haste." The crisis was 
short. The next day it was explained to Mademoi- 
selle that Saint-Fargeau had two exits in case of 
alarm. She returned in consequence on the fourth 
day, and there was no more question of grief, nor 
even ill-temper ; from that moment the place was 
" good and strong." 

The Princess adapted herself to the glassless 
windows, the broken ceilings, the absence of doors, 
and all the rest. The great ladies of the seventeenth 
century were fortunately not too particular. Ma- 
demoiselle encamped in a cellar while the apart- 
ment above was being repaired, and was forced to 
borrow a bed. She recovered all her gaiety before 
the comicality of the situation : " for the first cousin 
of the King of France." " Happily for me," wrote 
she, " the bailiff of the chateau had been recently 
married ; therefore he possessed a new bed." The 
bed of Madame the Bailiff was the great resource of 
the chateau. It was returned as soon as the Princess 
received her own from Paris, but it was again used 
to give a resting-place to the Christmas guests, 



6 Louis XIV. and 

many of whom appeared-— a fact to the credit of the 
French nobiHty — as soon as it was known where 
the illustrious unfortunate was passing her period 
of banishment. 

Mademoiselle did not know how to provide for 
these guests and the most important were lodged 
with the bailiff. The Duchess of Sully and her sis- 
ter, the Marquise of Laval, came together for a pro- 
longed sojourn and performed the office of shuttle 
between the cellar in which the Grande Mademoi- 
selle held her court and " the new bed of the city of 
Saint-Fargeau." Ladies of quality arriving at this 
time lodged where they could with small regard to 
comfort, and this condition lasted until the chateau 
was put in order. Every one suffered but nobody 
complained. There was a certain elegance in this 
haughty fashion of ignoring comfort, the importance 
of which in our own days seems in comparison rather 
bourgeois, in the worst sense of the word. 

Gradually all was arranged. The chateau was 
restored, the apartments enlarged.^ The over- 
growth of the approaches gave place to a terrace 
from which to the surprise of all a charming view 
was discovered. The Saint-Fargeau of the Capets 
and of the first Valois, " a place so wild," says 
Mademoiselle, " that when I arrived, only herbs fit 
for soup were to be found," became a beautiful 
residence, hospitable and animated. 

' The Chateau of Saint-Fargeau still exists, but the interior has been 
transformed since a great fire which occurred in 1752; the apartments of 
Mademoiselle no longer remain. Cf. Les Chdteaux d^ Ancy-le-Franc, de 
Saint-Fargeau, etc., by the Baron Chaillou des Barres. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 7 

The mistress of the place loved open air and 
movement, as did all the French nobility before 
an absolute monarchy, in the interest of order and 
peace, had trained them to rest tranquilly in the 
salons of Versailles. Muscular decadence com- 
menced with the French at the epoch when it 
became the fashion to pass the days in silk stock- 
ings and practising bows, under punishment of 
being excluded from all society. Violent exercises 
were abandoned or made more gentle.^ Attention 
was paid only to what gave majestic grace to the 
body in harmony with the Versailles '* Galerie of 
Mirrors." 

The bourgeoisie were eager to imitate the peo- 
ple of quality, and the higher classes paid for their 
fine manners or their attempts at fine manners with 
the headaches and nervous disorders of the eight- 
eenth century. The taste for sport has only re- 
appeared in France during our own times. We 
are now witnessing its resurrection. 

This taste, however, was still lively immediately 
after the Fronde, and Mademoiselle abandoned 
herself to it with passion. She ordered from Eng- 
land a pack of hounds and hunters. She possessed 
many equipages. With a game of marl before the 
chateau, indoor games for rainy days, violins from 
the Tuileries to play for dancing, it would be diffi- 
cult to find a court more brisk, more constantly in 
joyous movement. 

' Cf. Les Sports et jeux d'exercice dans V ancienne France, by J. J. Jus- 
serand. 



8 Louis XIV. and 

Mademoiselle, whom nothing tired, set an ex- 
ample, and seasoned these " games of action " with 
causeries, some of which happily have been pre- 
served for us by Segrais,^ her Secretary of the 
Commandments. Thanks to him, we know, even 
admitting that he may have slightly rearranged his 
reports, what they talked about at the court of 
Saint-Fargeau, and one cannot fail to be somewhat 
surprised. He tells us all sorts of things of which 
we never should have dreamed, things that we 
have never imagined as subjects of interest in the 
seventeenth century. In this age which believed 
itself entirely indifferent towards nature, conversa- 
tion nevertheless fell ceaselessly upon the beauties 
of landscape. People paused to admire "points 
of view," sought them, and endeavoured to explain 
why they were beautiful. The reasons given were, 
that those who knew how to enjoy a large for- 
est and " the beautiful carpet of moss at the feet," 
actually preferred landscapes made more intelligible 
through the intervention of man. A desert pleased 
them less than an inhabited country, a wild land- 
scape less than sunny collections of cultivated 
fields and orchards symmetrically planted, recalling 
" the agreeable variety of parterres made by the 
ingenuity of man." 

Mademoiselle praises in her Mimoires the view 

^ Les nouvelles franqaises, ou Les divet'tissements de la princesse 
Aur/lie, by Segrais, Paris, 2 vols., 1656-1657. The last of the " Nouvelles 
fran5aises," Floridon, ou V amour ifuprttdent, is the history of the intrigues 
in the harem which led to the death of Bajazet. Racine had certainly read 
it when he wrote his tragedy. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 9 

from the end of the terrace. She attempts to de- 
scribe it and fails. Segrais also tries in vain. It 
was impossible at that epoch. The vocabulary did 
not exist which could furnish words to describe a 
landscape. The creation of our descriptive vocab- 
ulary is one of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's ^ greatest 
glories. In compensation, Segrais knew very well 
how to explain why the beauty of the view, about 
which he had so ineffectively written, pleased him 
and his companions. He said that, arranged by 
chance, it conformed to the rules of classic pictures 
and in no way appeared the sole work of nature. 
Neither the valley of the Loing nor the immense 
marsh which closed this side of the chateau, nor 
the island in the midst of this marsh, with clumps 
of trees, nor the church and small height which 
could be perceived, seemed placed without human 
intervention. " And this," writes Segrais, " is so 
well represented in those excellent landscapes of the 
great artists, that all who look upon it believe that 
they have seen the marsh, church, and little island 
in a thousand pictures." 

Literature, imaginative literature at least, also 
held a considerable place in the conversation. 
Mademoiselle, who had read nothing before her 
sojourn at Saint-Fargeau, was anxious to make up 
for lost time. " I am a very ignorant creature," 
writes she, at the beginning of her exile, " detest- 
ing reading and having seen only the gazettes. 

' See Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, in the Collection of Grands ecrivains. 
Paris, Hochctte. 



lo Louis XIV. and 

Henceforth I am going to apply myself and see 
if it be possible to like a thing from deliberate 
determination." 

Success surpassed her hopes ; she conceived a 
passion for reading. In the winter of 165 2- 165 3, 
during which there were few distractions, and the 
chateau was given over to workmen ; when the 
bad weather and the rough roads rendered Saint- 
Fargeau unapproachable, and left the castle soli- 
tary, she read, or listened to reading while plying 
her needle, without being bored. 

I laboured from morning till night at my work and descended 
from my chamber only to dine or to be present at mass. 
The winter weather was so bad that walking was impossible. 
If there ever was a moment of fine weather I rode, or if the 
ground was too frozen I walked a little to watch my workmen. 
While I sewed some one read to me, and it was at this period 
that I began to love reading as I have done ever since. 

At the end of some years of banishment her 
*' erudition " struck Dr. Huet, who met her at the 
baths of Forges. "She loves history passionately," 
says he in his Mdmozres, "but above all, romances, 
so-called. While her women were dressing her 
hair, she desired me to read aloud, and no matter 
what the subject, it provoked a thousand ques- 
tions on her part. In this I well recognised the 
acuteness of her mind." 

The fashionable romances easily pleased a Prin- 
cess who had a grandeur of soul and loved to 
meet it in others. They were the works of 



La Grande Mademoiselle 1 1 

Gomberville,^ of La Calprenede, and of Mile, de 
Scudery, in which the sheepfolds and dove-cotes of 
I'Astree had yielded to the heroic adventures and 
grand sentiments of princes warlike and proud, 
who, notwithstanding their exotic names, were the 
same who resisted under Richelieu, and lead the 
Fronde under Mazarin. The generations born 
in the first third of the century were charmed with 
the resemblance to their own heroes which these 
tales offered them. They went wild with delight 
over Scythe, Oroondate, or the Grand Cyrus, as 
they were fascinated with Salnt-Preux and Leila, 
and many readers remained faithful till death to 
these writers who had so well expressed the ideals 
of their youth. 

At sixty, La Rochefoucauld re-read La Calprenede. 
Mme. de Sevlgne was a grandmother when she 
found herself " glued " to CUopdtre. " The beauty 
of the sentiments," writes she, " and the violence 
of the passions, the grandeur of the events, and 
the marvellous successes of the redoubtable 
swords, all enchain me as If I were still a little 
child. The sentiments are of a perfection which 
satisfy my conception of beautiful souls." ^ 

Realism and Naturalism have in the present day 
destroyed the capacity for enthusiasm for heroes of 
romance. One's imagination can hardly be kindled 

' His Polexandre had appeared, 1629-1637 ; his last romance, La jfeune 
Alcidiane, in 1651; Cassandrez-Vii. CUopdtre, by La Calprenede, in 1642-1647. 
Artamlne, ou le Grand Cyrus, by Mile, de Scudery, was published 1649— 

1653- 
^ Letters of the 12th and 15th of July, 1671, to Mme. de Grignan. 



12 Louis XIV. and 

by a Coupeau or a Nana, nor even by a Madame 
Bovary, whatever may be the literary value of the 
works in which they figure. For the little court of 
Saint- Fargeau it was hardly possible to speak 
calmly of the favourite heroes. One day, followed 
by a numerous assemblage. Mademoiselle drove in 
the fresh valley of the Loing and descended from 
her chariot under the tall willows which bordered 
the little river. It was spring and the sun was 
radiant. The new grass and the growing leaves 
offered a picture so "laughing" that nothing else 
could at first be spoken of. While walking, the 
conversation finally turned upon romance, and each 
fought for the favourite hero. The discussion was 
waxing warm when the Princess, who had hardly 
spoken, intervened to moderate its ardour. After 
avowing that she had read but little, she gave an 
eulogium upon Roman history, or rather what it 
might become, better comprehended in the hands 
of a learned writer, and criticised the custom of 
giving French manners to Greeks, Persians, or 
Indians. 

Mademoiselle desired greater " historic truth " 
and what might be designated as more local colour. 
Why not frankly take characters from French con- 
temporaries ? "I am astonished," she said in end- 
ing, " that so many people of intelligence who have 
created for us such worthy Scythians and such gener- 
ous Parthians have not taken the same pleasure in 
imagining as accomplished French cavaliers or 
princes : whose adventures would not have been less 



La Grande Mademoiselle 13 

pleasing." After a moment's silence, objections were 
advanced. The idea of writing a romance upon the 
" war of Paris " seemed very daring. One young lady 
very naively urged that the author would not know 
how to name his characters. " The French," said 
she, " naturally love foreign names. Arabaze, Iphi- 
damante, Crosmane, are beautiful names ; Rohan, 
Lorraine, Montmorency, are nothing of the kind." 

The old Mme. de Choissy, with the authority 
given by her noted intelligence, tried to prove that 
in an imaginative recital both time and space must 
be distant. One Marquise appeared wearied of 
the kings and emperors of romance, and desired 
heroes taken from the middle class. Another, 
Mme. de Mauny, who was supposed^ to have in- 
vented the expression " sencanailler' asserted that 
it was forbidden to heroes of romance to do or say 
anything derogatory to pure sentiment, which was 
possible to those of " high birth only." Mademoi- 
selle maintained the necessity of observation and 
truth for the tale, but she admitted that the author 
of a great romance, writing as a " poet," had the 
right to imagine events, instead of servilely copying 
them. " The tale," said she, " relates things as 
they are, the romance as they should be." 

This distinction neither lacks acuteness nor a 
certain justice, and we should like to know how 
much Segrais had contributed to it. No one hav- 
ing replied to this last remark, the Princess re- 
mounted her carriage, and gave the order to follow 

' See Le dictionnaire des Pr/cieuses, by Somaize. 



14 Louis XIV. and 

the pack of hounds, which had just started a hare a 
few steps off. She was obeyed, in spite of the ob- 
stacles which the country presented, and she re- 
turned to the chateau, very well satisfied with her 
afternoon. 

At Saint-Fargeau they talked more frequently of 
love than of either literature or the beauties of 
nature. Love is a subject of which women never 
weary, and about which they always have something 
to say. Mademoiselle lent herself completely to 
such conversation ; it was she who one day posed 
a question the subtlety of which the Hotel Ram- 
bouillet might have enjoyed. " Whose absence 
causes the greater anguish, a lover who should be 
loved or one who should not be ? " 

She consented to admit the ideas of I'Astree upon 
the fatality of passion, on the condition that the 
effects should be limited to personages of romance, 
or in real life to those of humble birth. Segrais 
makes her say without protest in a tale ^ ascribed to 
her " Man is not free to love or not to love as he 
pleases." In the depths of her soul, in her most 
intimate thoughts, Mademoiselle had never been 
further from comprehending love, never had she 
more energetically refused for it any beauty, any 
grandeur. One of her ladies, the gracious Fronte- 
nac, with her eyes " filled with light," had made a 
marriage of inclination, an act absurd, base, and 
shameful in the judgment of Mademoiselle, her 
mistress. The marriage turned out badly. M. de 

' Eugenie, ou la force du destin. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 15 

Frontenac was eccentric. His young wife at first 
feared, then hated him, and at Saint-Fargeau there 
passed between the couple tragi-comic scenes, of 
which no one could be ignorant. 

Mademoiselle had just commenced her M^moires} 
She eagerly relates the conjugal quarrels of M. and 
Mme. de Frontenac with more details than it 
would be suitable to repeat, and this was the oppor- 
tunity for an outburst against the folly of try- 
ing to found marriage upon the most fickle of 
human feelings. She writes : 

I have always had a strong aversion for even legitimate 
love. This passion appears to me unworthy of a noble soul ; 
but I am now confirmed in this opinion, and I comprehend 
well that reason has but little to do with affairs of passion. 
Passion passes quickly, is never, in fact, of long duration. 
One may be unhappy for life in entering upon marriage for so 
transient a feeling, but on the other hand, happy if one mar- 
ries for reason and other imaginable considerations, even if 
physical aversion exists ; for I believe that one often loves 
more with this aversion conquered. 

The principle may be sage, but the Grande 
Mademoiselle is too sure of her fact. This "even 
if aversion exists " is difficult to digest. The 
Princess was nearing her thirtieth year, when she 
treated love with contempt, and nothing had yet 
warned her of the imprudence of defying nature ; 
so she believed herself well protected. 

In the spring of 1683, the rumour had spread 

' Mademoiselle commenced her Memoires shortly after her arrival at 
Saint-Fargeau. She interrupted them in 1660, resumed them in 1677, and 
definitely abandoned them in 168S, five years before her death. 



1 6 Louis XIV. and 

that she and M. le Prince de Conde had promised to 
marry, in the expectation and hope of being soon 
reheved of the Princess de Conde, now a hopeless 
invalid, and that the imagination of Mademoiselle, 
for lack of heart, pressed her " furiously " in this 
affair. The Parisian salons had discovered no other 
explanation for the hostile attitude which she per- 
sisted in maintaining towards the Court of France, 
which she had so much interest in conciliating. It 
was inconceivable that without some reason of this 
kind she should compromise herself as she did, for 
a Prince who had become an alien and whom she 
might never again see. Why betray news through 
letters which always fell into the hands of Mazarin ? 
Why leave to Conde, now a Spanish General, the 
companies raised under the Fronde with the funds 
of Mademoiselle and bearing her name ? Either she 
had lost her senses or one might expect some ro- 
mantic prank, which could only be unravelled by 
marriage. 

" Have you told everything ? " demanded Madem- 
oiselle of the old Countess de Fiesque, her former 
governess, one morning, when this last poured out 
the comments of the world. " No," said the good 
woman. Her mistress let her proceed, then ex- 
pressed herself as indignant that she should have 
been believed capable of marrying on account of 
a sudden passion ; the other reproaches had not 
touched her. 

She declared that M. le Prince had never spoken 
of marriage, that it would be time to think of this 



La Grande Mademoiselle 17 

if Madame la Princesse should die, when M. le 
Prince should be pardoned, when he should for- 
mally demand her hand, and the King should ap- 
prove the affair. 

I believe [continued she] that I should marry him finding 
in his personality only what is grand, heroic, and worthy of the 
name I bear. But that I should marry like a young lady of 
romance, that he should come to seek me upon a palfrey de- 
stroying all barriers in the road; and on the other hand that 
I should mount another palfrey like Mme. Oriane*; I assure 
you this would not suit my temper, and I am very indignant 
against those people who have thought it possible. 

At this point the Princess was silent. It would 
have been the moment to confess the true key to 
her conduct ; but one must avow that, in spite of 
her fine words and her expressed contempt for 
lovers, she was after all a true Princess of romance, 
led by her imagination. 

The idea of making war upon the King from the 
bottom of a cellar had amused her, and still more 
the thinking of herself as the price of peace between 
her cousin and Conde, and she had not wished to 
look further. 

While the tempest gathered over her head, the 
great preoccupation of Mademoiselle was the in- 
stallation of a theatre in her dilapidated chateau, 
in which the country workmen had not yet suc- 
ceeded in arranging a suitable bedroom for her. 
She could no longer live without the comedy ; 
the theatre must come first. It was ready in 

'Oriane was the mistress of Amadis. 



i8 Louis XIV. and 

February, 1653, and inaugurated immediately by a 
wandering troop, engaged for the season. The 
hall was commodious, but very cold. The court 
of Saint-Fargeau descended from its garrets en- 
tirely muffled, the ladies in fur hoods. The country 
people, only too delighted to be invited to shiver in 
such good company, hastened from distances of ten 
leagues. Mademoiselle was perfectly contented : 
'* I listened to the play with more pleasure than 
ever before." 

We no longer understand what it means to love 
truly the theatre. According to the gazette of 
Loret, the opening piece was a pastoral, " half gay, 
half moral," Mademoiselle loved this sort, slightly 
out of fashion ; Segrais has preserved an agreeable 
reminiscence of a summer's evening passed in 
the forest, with the natural background of high 
trees, listening to an ancient " Amaryllis" repolished 
and arranged for the stage by some penny-a-liner. 

Mademoiselle loved, what is more, everything 
pertaining to the theatre from tragedy to trained 
dogs. One reads in a little squib written by her 
as a pastime,-^ and printed for the diversion of her 
friends, " Comedians are essentials — at least for the 
French and Italians. Jugglers, rope dancers, buveurs 
d'eau, without forgetting marionettes and bell 
players, dogs trained to leap, and monkeys as ex- 
amples to our own ; violins and merry-andrews 
and good dancers." This skit should not be taken 

^ La relation de Vlsle imaginaire, printed in 1659, also L' histoire de la 
Princesse de Paphlagoiiie. We shall again refer to them. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 19 

too seriously, but it well accords with the account 
left us by an eye-witness of one of the represent- 
ations at Saint-Fargeau. The piece was called 
Country Pleasures, an operetta. The greatest 
applause fell neither to the Goddess Flora, nor to 
the " melancholy lover," but to two children dis- 
guised as monkeys, and executing songs with the 
"cadence which belongs to those animals." 

Twice a week, the pleasures and cares of Saint- 
Fargeau were varied by the arrival of messengers 
bringing letters and gazettes. News not to be 
trusted to the post was received through guests 
from Paris or by special messengers. The news 
consisted mainly of political events, but it fell to 
the exiles to discover the springs and to draw the 
morals from the facts. This talent of divining, 
possessed in a high degree by the Parisians, has 
never passed the banlieue. It cannot be carried 
away. 

Mademoiselle herself had never attained the art. 
Even at the Tuileries she used to say : " I can 
never guess anything." Once in her place of 
refuge, she comprehended nothing of the real sig- 
nificance of passing events. For those who were not 
Provincials there was nothing clearer than the con- 
duct of the Court of France, after its return to the 
capital. Mademoiselle had fled from the Tuileries 
October 21, 1652. The next day the young King 
held a Lit de Justice, in which the Parliament 
was forbidden to occupy itself with the general 
affairs of the kingdom. Banishments and pursuits 



20 Louis XIV. and 

immediately commenced, but the gazettes hardly re- 
ferred to them. From their pages one might have 
gathered that Paris was entirely absorbed in its 
pleasures. 

The post of November brought to Saint-Fargeau 
description of the first Court ball and some lines on 
a new Lit de Justice (November 13th), in which 
the Prince de Conde and his adherents had been 
declared criminals " de lese majeste." The Decem- 
ber number of the Gazette gave news of the arrest of 
Retz, who had rallied before the end of the Fronde, 
and the account of a great marriage with enumera- 
tion of gifts and names of donors, exactly as in our 
modern journals. The January number was made 
interesting by the accounts of the several successes 
of Turenne over Conde and the Spanish troops, 
and by the news of the death of an ancient aunt 
of Mademoiselle who had been in retreat for seven 
or eight years. The necrological article took a 
larger space in the gazette of Loret than that ab- 
sorbed by the warlike and political news together. 

The third of the following month the revolution- 
ary era was closed by the triumphal return of Maz- 
arin. Louis XIV. travelled three leagues to meet 

him, 

Encor qu'il fait un temps etrange 
Temps de vent, de pluie et de fange, 

and took him back in his own carriage to the 
Louvre, where a sumptuous festival, fireworks, and 
homage, more or less sincere, from the crowds of 
courtiers, awaited him. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 21 

The attention of the Parisians was at once di- 
rected to a grand ballet with mechanical devices 
and changes of scene, danced three times by the 
King and the flower of his nobility, ^ before a public 
analogous to that of the free representations of 
July 14th in Paris. Places were reserved for the 
Court and its guests, who really made part of the 
spectacle, but otherwise all entered who desired. 
The crowd besieged the doors to see what will 
probably never again be witnessed : a monarch 
sufficiently sure of his prestige to dare to pirouet, 
costumed as a mythological divinity, or stagger 
as a thief who had drunk too much, before the 
canaille of his capital. 

The following day, a journalist bitterly bewails 
in his paper having seen nothing at all, although 
he had stood in line three hours and waited eight 
hours in the hall. This journalist exacted and 
obtained consideration ; at the second representa- 
tion, the chronicler before carelessly treated was 
lead in ceremony to the "reserved places." He 
was not yet content, not being in front. He 
showed himself, however, a good fellow and wrote 
an article admiring all, even a scene in which the 
joke to-day seems somewhat inhuman. It was a 
dance of cripples, the contortions of these miserable 
beings causing much laughter. 

Of the abuses which gave rise to the Fronde, no 
living soul breathed a word. Not one of these 

' These representations took place in the grand hall of the Petit Bourbon, 
near the Louvre. (Cf. L'Histoire de Paris, by Delaure.) 



22 Louis XIV. and 

abuses had disappeared.- For the most part they 
had been aggravated by the general disorder ; but 
France resembled an invalid who had so far found 
only charlatans for physicians ; it was weary of 
remedies. " The people of Paris," wrote Andre 
d'Ormesson, "were disgusted with Princes and did 
not longer wish to feed upon war." 

One might say the same of the Provinces. They 
remained for the most part troubled and miserable, 
their hate now turning against the nobility, with 
whom the four years of anarchy had brought back 
the manners of the feudal brigands. Deceived on 
all sides, betrayed by all its pretended saviours, the 
country began again to put its faith in the central 
power. It was only necessary that this last should 
regain its strength day by day, and it was clear to 
the Parisians as well as to the Provinces that the 
first use royalty would make of convalescence would 
be to cripple the nobility so that a revival of the 
Fronde would be impossible. 

The period had passed in which the King could 
be aided by the nobles according to their own 
methods not his, as at the time in which they had 
fought against him, to deliver him from his first 
minister. Louis XIV. wished now to be served in 
his own way, which was to be obeyed, and he felt 
the strength to impose obedience. It required all 
the naivete of Mademoiselle to be able to imagine 
that she could make the King as an old Frondeur 
admit the distinctions between M. le Prince whose 
success one had the right to desire, and the Spanish 



La Grande Mademoiselle 23 

soldiers led by this same Prince in whom one must 
not be interested. She had so little realisation of 
the change which had taken place in sentiments, 
from the date of her exile, that she did not even 
attempt to conceal her grief at the news of the 
victory at Arras brought back by Turenne, August 
27, 1654. 

The Grande Mademoiselle believed herself in 
accord with her King and country when she wrote 
in her Memoir es : " I have not desired the Spaniards 
to gain advantage over the French, but I do wish 
that M. le Prince might do so and I cannot per- 
suade myself that this is against the service of the 
King." It was then four months since the young 
monarch had entered, whip in hand, into his Parlia- 
ment and forbade it to mix itself with his affairs ; 
but his cousin had no more comprehended this 
warning than the others which had preceded it. 
It had not once occurred to her that the cadet 
branches of the royal family were amongst the van- 
quished and that the relations of the King of 
France, very far from being in a position to dictate 
to him, would henceforth be the most strictly held 
in leash of all his subjects. Only the approach of 
the great revolution gave them an opportunity to 
regain their importance and we know how much 
Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette were able to 
contjratulate themselves over this fact. 

Monsieur Gaston undertook to bring his daugh- 
ter to a realisation of the truth. It had been said 
that as long as he lived bitter experiences would 



24 Louis XIV. and 

come to Mademoiselle through this dangerous 
Prince. 

Gaston d' Orleans had disappeared from the 
stage at the end of the Fronde, like a true hero 
of comedy. His wife said, half weeping, half 
laughing, that he seemed to her a Tewlin, a cele- 
brated comic actor who filled the role designated 
to-day as the " king of operetta." 

The return of the Court to Paris had been an- 
nounced to the Luxembourg by a letter from Louis 
XIV. This news had entirely upset Monsieur and 
he blustered with so much appearance of truth 
that Mademoiselle had once more been convinced. 
** He was so completely beside himself," relates de 
Retz, ** that one would judge from his manner of 
speaking, that he was already on horseback, com- 
pletely armed and ready to cover with blood the 
plains of St. Denis and Crenelle." 

Madame was terrified ; she endeavoured to pa- 
cify him, but the more she tried the more vigor- 
ously he threatened to annihilate everything. His 
martial ardour vanished when he received a decree 
of banishment (October 21, 1652). It was at the 
date the King was entering Paris, and cannon were 
heard on all sides, the populace, according to the 
custom of the times, firing in the air as a sign 
of joy. Nothing, however, could persuade Mon- 
sieur, old Parisian as he was, that these charges did 
not come from the King's guards, and that the 
palace was not being besieged. 

He was overcome with terror ; moved to and fro 




CARDINAL DE RET2 

Showing liim in his Coadjuteur days 

After the painting by Deveria 



La Grande Mademoiselle 25 

with agitation ; sent constantly to inquire what was 
going on, and finally hastened his departure, which 
should not have taken place till the next day be- 
fore dawn. He drew a free breath only upon 
arriving at the valley of Chevreuse. No one 
dreamed of retaining him — on the contrary, Maz- 
arin, who governed France from the depths of his 
exile, was resolved to have no more trouble with 
him. " Let his Royal Highness depart with his 
appanage,"^ wrote he. His Royal Highness hav- 
ing arrived at the Chateau of Limours, Michel 
Le Tellier, Secretary of State and War, hastened 
to find him, and it was a repetition of the former 
scenes with Richelieu. 

In his final adieus to public life, Gaston d'Or- 
leans denounced Retz as before he had denounced 
Chalais, Montmorency, Cinq-Mars, and many 
others. When he had said all that he wished, 
thus preparing the arrest of the Cardinal, who was 
to astonish Mademoiselle by arriving at Saint- 
Fargeau, the King permitted him to retire to 
Blois."^ Monsieur obeyed with ill-grace; he felt 
that they were burying him alive. 

This was not the first time that he had dwelt at 
Blois in spite of himself. The forced sojourn 
made at that place under Louis XHI. had not 
been disagreeable, constraint aside, because he was 
not definitely limited, and he succeeded, being 
young and gay, in living like " a little king of 

' Letter of October I2th, to the Abbe Foucquet. 
^ M^moires de Montglat. 



26 Louis XIV. and 

Yvetot." He had rebuilt according to his own 
taste (i 635-1 638) a portion of the chateau after 
the plans of Francois Mansard, "the cleverest 
architect of his times," ^ the uncle of the builder of 
the Palace of Versailles. 

Chambord served him for a -country-seat, near 
at hand, and fruitful for the kitchen garden, with 
forests teeming with game for hunting-grounds, 
and amiable people for subjects, who had guarded 
a monarchical faith and considered themselves 
much honoured when the brother of the King 
deigned to flatter them and their daughters. 

Saint-Fargeau was steep and gloomy ; Blois, on 
the contrary, with its sky full of caresses, showed 
itself the worthy forerunner of the Angevine gen- 
tleness : 

Coteaux riants y sont des deux cotes, 
Coteaux non pas si voisins de la nue, 
Qu'en Limousin, mais coteaux enchantes, 
Belles maisons, beaux pares et bien plantes, 
Pres verdoyants done ce pays abonde, 
Vignes et bois, tant de diversites 
Qu'en croit d' abord etre en un autre monde.' 

It is a tourist of the time who so speaks, La 
Fontaine, who visited Blois in 1663, and described 
it to his wife in a letter half prose, half verse. 
The city had charmed him on account of its beau- 
tiful situation and the amiable manners of its in- 

^ M^moires du Marquis de Sourches, Cf. L'Histoire du chdteau de Blois ^ 
by La Saussaye. 

'^Letter of September 3, 1663. 




JULIUS HARDOUIN MANSART 
After the painting by Vivien 



La Grande Mademoiselle 27 

habitants : " Life is very polished here, possibly 
has always been so, the climate and the beauty of 
the country contributing to its charm ; probably 
the sojourn of Monsieur or the number of pretty 
women has caused this politeness." 

As a man of taste, La Fontaine had admired the 
portion of the chateau of Francis I,, without regu- 
larity and order ; as a good liver he had appre- 
ciated the excellent breakfast at the inn. As a 
good traveller, he had gossiped sufficiently with 
the people of the place to realise how happy they 
were under the gentle reign of Gaston. 

The traces of the civil wars had been quickly 
effaced in these fertile and populous provinces. 
La Fontaine gaily retook his route towards Am- 
boise ; he saw the smile of France, and he was 
made to enjoy it. 

In this first time of peaceful enjoyment one 
of the great pleasures of Monsieur was to pass 
through his domains as an idle prince ; descending 
here from his carriage to chase a stag, stopping 
there his boat to dine upon the grass, inviting him- 
self into any dwellings belonging to either nobles 
or bourgeoisie in which he found pretty women. 

He embarked one day on one of those covered 
boats which the pictures of the seventeenth century 
show us. They were called " galiotes," and were 
used in voyaging upon rivers and canals. " Mon- 
sieur," relates an eye-witness, " had commanded 
a second boat in which he put a quantity of pro- 
visions, and the officers of his mdnage^ those of the 



28 Louis XIV. and 

kitchen as well as the wardrobe ; the horses were 
led along the bank." 

He took ten or twelve of his suite with himself, 
and when he reached some beautiful and agreeable 
island he disembarked and ordered dinner and 
supper to be served under the shade. 

" Certainly one might say that all cares were 
banished from our society, that life went on with- 
out restraint, playing, drinking, eating, sleeping at 
will, that time meant nothing ; at last the master, 
although son and brother of great kings, had put 
himself in the rank of his servants." ^ 

Thus they drifted down the stream as far as 
Brittany. The weather was perfect. The cha- 
teaux of the Loire defiled before the galiote. 
These people travelled as if they were poets. 

As soon, however, as Richelieu permitted, Gaston 
rushed to Paris and again plunged into politics ; 
which meant to him only cowardice and betrayals, 
but which nevertheless fascinated him. This was 
his favourite vice which nothingf would have in- 
duced him to correct, for politics gave him a round 
of new sensations. To hold the life of a friend in 
one's hand, knowing in advance that he will be 
delivered to the executioner, and at the same time 
bitterly to bewail his loss ; to realise also that 
the present grief will surely vanish and that one 
can joyously take another life in the hand, — 
such events evidently make days most interesting, 
when neither conscience nor heart are tender. 

^Nicolas Goulas, Memoires. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 29 

These excitements had filled the public career of 
Gaston, and when he found himself again in his 
chateau of Blois, almost twenty years after the 
radiant voyage down the Loire, for ever deprived, 
according to all probabilities, of the strong emo- 
tions whose savour Le Tellier had permitted him to 
taste for the last time in the interview at Limours, 
existence appeared to him intolerably pale and 
empty. 

The good which he could do and actually was do- 
ing, did not interest him ; he bitterly regretted the 
evil no longer in his power. 

No one, even amongst his enemies, has ever 
accused him of being wicked. Only physicians 
can analyse such morbid natures. Monsieur had 
commenced by struggling against ennui. He had 
collected a fine library and had attracted literary 
people to his court, in the hopes of refinding the 
taste for literature which had animated his youth. 
He recalled his collections of objects of art and 
curiosities, continued them and began new. No- 
thing, however, really interested him, except a bo- 
tanical garden with which he occupied himself with 
pleasure. 

Everything seemed infinitely puerile to a man 
who had contributed so long to the making of 
history ; it had become impossible for him to at- 
tach any importance to the little verses of his 
'* beaux esprits," or to become impassioned over im- 
paled birds or even an antique medal. 

Weary of war, he threw himself into devotion 



30 Louis XIV. and 

The gazette of Loret made this fact part of the 
official news of France and kept the country in- 
formed of his progress in the path of piety. The 
first sign which he gave of his conversion was 
to correct himself of a fault which had formerly 
brought from Richelieu useless remonstrances. 
This Prince with so refined a taste, cursed and 
swore abominably. The habit had been caught 
by those near him ; we know that Mademoiselle 
herself used lively words in moments of irritation. 
In December, 1652, oaths and blasphemies were 
severely forbidden at the court of Blois, and Mon- 
sieur insisted upon obedience. 
To-day, reports the gazette ^ : 

Aucun de ceux qui sont a lui, 
Quelque malheur qui lui survienne, 
N'oserait jurer la mordienne. 

One learns, afterwards, that these fine begin- 
nings were not belied, and that Monsieur was now 
** less often at home than in the church." The 
Parisians and the Court of France had much diffi- 
culty in believing that repentance should have 
come to a spirit so free and so skeptical. His piety 
would have been entirely estimable " if his laziness 
had not in some portion aided his virtue." But how- 
ever this may be, the devotion of Gaston was not 
the less sincere. He reformed his life, and succeeded 
in finding, at the foot of the altar, not perhaps con- 
tentment, but some patience and resignation. 

' Gazette of August 22, 1654. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 31 

This did not come, however, for a long time ; the 
begfinninpf of his definite exile was filled with miser- 
able agitations and complaints without dignity. 
Madame rejoined him with their little flock of 
daughters.^ This Princess did not add to the an- 
imation of the chatea:u. Entirely occupied with her 
own health, she lived shut up, without any other 
distraction than that of eating from morning till 
night, " in order to cure her melancholies," relates 
the Grande Mademoiselle, " but which really in- 
creases her ills." She gave no orders, only sent for 
her daughters ten minutes in the morning and even- 
ing, never spoke to them except to say " Hold your- 
selves erect, raise your head " ; this was her sole 
instruction. She never saw them again during the 
day and never inquired what they were doing. 

The governess in her turn neglected her pupils, 
who were abandoned to the care of inferiors. Their 
father found nothing to criticise in these educa- 
tional methods ; Anne of Austria had not brought 
up her sons very differently. Besides, Monsieur 
was a submissive husband. He considered his 
wife's judgment good, and that she possessed much 
more intelligence than was indicated by her large, 
frightened eyes. 

" This one," said Tallemant, " is a poor idiot, 
who nevertheless has intelligence." Mme. de Motte- 
ville judged her exactly the same. Madame was 
not loved because she was not amiable, but no one 
was astonished at her ascendancy over her husband. 

' Four, but the last died at an early age. 



32 Louis XIV. and 

Gaston's court, contrary to that of his daughter, 
was almost deserted. Disgrace for this couple had 
been the signal for general abandonment. During 
the first years, Gaston took the trouble to entertain 
his guests ; he became again, for some hours, the 
incomparable talker, who knew a thousand beauti- 
ful tales and found charming methods of telling 
them.i Chapelle and Bachaumont were received at 
the chateau on their passage to Blois in 1656, and 
brought back the pleasantest remembrances of the 
dinners of the Due d'Orleans. 

La d'une obligeante maniere, 
D'un visage ouvert et riant, 
II nous fit bonne et grande chere, 
Nous donnant a son ordinaire 
Tout ce que Blois a de friand. 

** The table arrangements were the neatest possi- 
ble, not even a crumb of bread was allowed on the 
table. Well polished glasses of all sorts stood 
upon the buffet, and ice was abundant. The hall 
was prepared for the evening dance, all the beauties 
of the neighbouring cities invited, all the violins 
from the provinces collected." ^ After a short time, 
however, the effort of entertaining became a bur- 
den upon Monsieur. He cared for nothing but re- 
pose, and he would have passed the remainder of 
his days in sleeping with open eyes, if it had not 
been for his daughter of Saint-Fargeau, the terrible 

' Mhnaires de Bussy-Jiabzitm. 

" Voyage de Chapelle et de Bachaumont. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 33 

Mademoiselle, from whom he had separated at 
Paris after a painful explanation, and who had 
never left him in peace since that time. 

She had commenced by coming to seek him in 
spite of frequent commands, to which she paid not 
the least attention. The Grande Mademoiselle, 
openly allied to Cond6, was a compromising guest 
for a Prince possessed at this epoch Vv'ith the desire 
to retake his place near the throne. In vain she 
declared that she had recalled her troops from the 
army of the Prince, her father knew very well that 
she was mocking him, and received her coldly on 
the evening of her first arrival (December, 1652). 
** He came to meet me at the door of his room, and 
said, ' I do not dare to come out because I have a 
swollen cheek.' " A moment after Monsieur heard 
from afar a joyous voice ; it was Mademoiselle re- 
lating the adventures during her flight to Saint- 
Fargeau. Monsieur could hold out no longer. He 
approached, made her recommence, and laughed 
with the others. The ice was broken. The fourth 
day, however, he said to Prefontaine, the man of 
confidence of Mademoiselle, while walking in the 
park of Chambord, " I love my daughter very 
much, but I have many obligations, and shall be 
easier if she stays here but little." 

Mademoiselle departed the next day. The fol- 
lowing month (January, 1653), Monsieur and 
Madame made a sojourn at Orleans. In spite of 
new orders. Mademoiselle came to pass a day with 
them. " I did not wait for escort," wrote she, " I 



34 Louis XIV. and 

departed suddenly from Saint-Fargeau and went to 
Orleans." 

This determination to impose herself upon people 
whom she saw with but little pleasure, is difficult to 
explain. Monsieur and Madame, who feared her, 
welcomed her, and her father said in bidding her 
farewell, " The affairs of your minority have never 
been settled. I wish to close this business. Give 
orders for this to your people." 

Mademoiselle did not wait for a second request. 
"In consequence I wrote to Paris, then to Blois, a 
host of writings which were somewhat wearisome." 
Monsieur had his own projects. It was the single 
opportunity to extract a little money for the 
daughters by his second wife. 

These young princesses had nothing to expect 
from their own mother, and very little from their 
father, whose pensions and appointments were de- 
stined to disappear with him. Madame was pre- 
occupied with this situation. 

For a long time [reports one of their intimates]^ 
Madame has skilfully urged Monsieur to think of his affairs, 
and to put some solid property aside for her children, tell- 
ing him that he possessed nothing in the world not reversi- 
ble to the crown in case he had no male children, and that 
their daughters would be left to the mercy of the court and 
the ministers for their subsistence. 

Until Gaston's disgrace, Madame had obtained 
nothing, and for cause. Her husband ruined him- 
self at play ; he had been seen to lose a half-million 

' M^moires de Nicolas Goulas. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 35 

francs to the famous Chevalier de Gramont. He 
reformed only at Blois, too late to begin to save ; 
his debts crushed him, and his pensions were paid 
most irregularly. The fortune of Mademoiselle 
presented itself as the sole means of floating the 
House of Orleans, and the accounts of her minority 
were the troubled waters in which it was proposed 
to fish. Monsieur did not suspect how much the 
exile and the influence of Prefontaine had changed 
his daughter. 

The Prefontaine type has disappeared with the 
ancient regime. There is no place in our demo- 
cratic society for these men at once servants and 
friends ; friends however who remained in the back- 
ground. Persons of this kind were frequently met 
with in the great families of former times, and 
nothing appeared more natural than the dog-like 
devotion to their masters, always exacting and 
often ungrateful. The Grande Mademoiselle was 
not ungrateful but she was violent, and it was 
always upon the patient Prefontaine that she vented 
her anger. He was the counsellor, the factotum 
shrewd and firm, to whom all affairs came, the 
confidant who knew her most secret projects of 
marriage without ceasing to be the domestic of 
no account. 

His mistress could do nothing without him, and 
she does not even tell us — she who loses herself in 
the smallest details when they concerned people of 
quality in her suite — at what date this precious man 
entered her service. She mentions him for the 



36 Louis XIV. and 

first time in 1651, without saying who he is or 
where he comes from. From that date she never 
ceased to speak of him as long as the troubled times 
lasted, but left him in the shadow nevertheless in 
her M^7noires. When we have said that he was a 
gentleman, that there was no reason for his devo- 
tion to Mademoiselle but his own choice, we have 
told all we know about him. He had found the 
affairs of his mistress in a very bad condition, and 
so he warned her ; Monsieur, her father, had been 
a negligent guardian and what is more an untrust- 
worthy one. At first Mademoiselle would not 
listen to Prefontaine, It was at Paris in the midst 
of the fire of the Fronde, and she had other things 
to think of. 

Prefontaine returned to the charge at Saint- 
Fargeau, where time abounded, and was better 
received. A new sentiment had awakened in 
Mademoiselle. She commenced to love money. 
She took interest in her affairs, and skilfully ap- 
plied herself to economising with so much success 
that she would have soon risen to be a Countess 
Pimbesche. 

Ideas of order and economy, rarely found with 
princesses of this epoch, occurred to her. " It is 
not sufficient," said she one day to Prefontaine, 
'* to have an eye upon my legal affairs and the in- 
crease of my revenues ; but it is also necessary to 
supervise the expenses of my house. I am con- 
vinced that I am robbed, and to prevent this, I wish 
to be accounted to as if I were a private person." 



La Grande Mademoiselle n 

This was not beneath a great Princess. Exam- 
ination proved that she was robbed by her people. 
After being assured of this, she took upon herself 
the duty of supervising all the accounts twice a 
week, "even to the smallest." 

She knew the price of everything ; " who could 
have predicted when I lived at Court, that I should 
ever know how much bricks, lime, plaster, car- 
riages cost, what are the daily wages of the work- 
men, in fine all the details of a building, and that 
every Saturday I should myself settle the accounts : 
every one would have been skeptical." And still 
more the people at large ; it was really almost in- 
credible. She quickly perceived that Monsieur 
had not taken his duties as guardian very seriously. 
It was in his belief both the right and duty of the 
chief of the Orleans family to advance the gene- 
ral interests of the House, even at the expense of 
individual members. The daughter by the first 
marriage was enormously rich. What could be 
more just than to use her fortune for the common 
good? What more natural than to throw upon 
her the burden of debts contracted to add to the 
eclat of the family ? or to give a little of her 
superfluity to her young sisters in view of their 
establishment ? 

Gaston sent to his daughter for signature an act 
conceived in this spirit, and received the clearest 
refusal. Very respectfully but with firmness Made- 
moiselle assured him that henceforth she intended 
to hold to her legal rights, which guaranteed the 



38 Louis XIV. and 

integrity of her fortune. Monsieur threw himself 
into a great rage, but knew not what more to do. 
PoHtics gave him unexpected aid. A gentleman 
sent as courier by Conde into France had just 
been arrested. Among other letters was found one 
without address, but evidently destined for Made- 
moiselle and most compromising for her. 

Mazarin charged the Archbishop of Embrun to 
take a copy of this to Gaston. The dispatch in 
which the prelate renders account of his mission 
has been preserved. Here is one of the significant 
passages : 

Blois, March 31, 1653. 
MONSEIGNEUR : 

I arrived Sunday evening in this city where I was received 
most warmly by Monsieur. . . . Immediately upon 
arrival I had a conference of an hour with him alone in his 
cabinet. I pointed out to him through the letter addressed to 
Mademoiselle her relations to M. le Prince, the Spaniards, and 
M. de Lorraine, which were all visibly marked in the letter. 
He declared himself very ill satisfied with Mademoiselle, but 
that the Queen knew that they had never been eight hours at 
a time together : and that at this moment she was trying to 
cause trouble in demanding account of his care of her wealth 
when he was guardian, and that it was thus impossible to doubt 
his anger. I told him that I had orders to beseech his Royal 
Highness to make two observations upon the letter ; the first: 
that Mademoiselle as long as she enjoyed the free possession 
of her immense wealth could assist any party she pleased, and 
that the King in order to check this had resolved to place 
administrators or a commission over her property to pre- 
serve it for her own use, but without permitting its abuse. 
His Royal Highness should be left the choice of these com- 
missioners. 

The second remark was, that it was to be feared, according to 



La Grande Mademoiselle 39 

the news in the letter, that if M. le Prince advanced, Made- 
moiselle would join him, and that the King in this diffi- 
culty demanded counsel of him as the person most interested 
in the conduct of Mademoiselle. Gaston replied: that he 
had ordered his daughter to join him at Orleans, Tuesday of 
Holy Week; and he would bring her back to Blois, and keep 
her near him. 

I have also, my Lord, talked over the same subjects with 
Madame as with Monsieur, knowing that she was very intelli- 
gent, and also that Monsieur deferred much to her opinions. 

Mazarin took no action upon this communication 
of the Archbishop of Embrun. 

It was sufficient to intimate to Monsieur that he 
was authorised not to worry himself about a rebel, 
and Gaston on his side asked nothing better. 

Sure of being for the present under Court pro- 
tection, he poured forth bitter words and threats 
against this disobedient and heartless daughter, 
who forgot her duty. Sometimes he wrote to her 
that "if she did not willingly give everything he 
demanded he would take possession of all the 
property and only give her what he pleased." 

Sometimes he cast fire and flame between her 
and the public : " She does not love her sisters ; 
says they are beggars ; that after my death she will 
see them demand alms, without giving a penny. 
She wishes to see my children in the poorhouse," 
and other sentiments of the same kind, which were 
repeated at Saint-Fargeau. 

Mademoiselle herself dreamed one day that Mon- 
sieur thought of enclosing her in a convent, " that 
this was the intention of the King," and that she must 



40 Louis XIV. and 

prepare for his coming. At the same time she was 
warned from Paris that her father had promised 
the Court to arrest her as soon as she arrived at 
Blois. Things reached such a pass that Gaston 
could no longer hear the name of his daughter 
without flying into a passion. 

The Princess had at first showed herself fearless. 
Knowing that the letter of Conde did not have any 
address, she denied that it was meant for her and 
took a high hand with her father ; " I assert that 
they cannot take away my property unless I am 
proved either mad or criminal and I know very 
well that I am neither one nor the other." 

Reflection, however, diminished her assurance. 
The idea of "being arrested" terrified her, and it 
was this fate, in the opinion of her ladies, which 
awaited her at Blois, — for which reason Monsieur, 
having previously forbidden her to come, now 
ordered her to meet him. 

She wept torrents of tears ; she was ill when she 
was obliged to obey and she confesses that on ar- 
riving at Blois she quite lost her head from terror. 
It was the story of the hare and the frogs. The 
projects of Gaston, whatever they may have been, 
vanished at sight of this agitated person and he had 
no other thouo^ht than of calming his daughter and 
avoiding scenes. 

For this he exerted all his grace, which was 
much, and forced Mademoiselle, reassured and 
calmed, to acknowledge that her father could be 
"charmingf." 



La Grande Mademoiselle 41 

The days rolled by and the question of their 
differences was not touched upon, " I wanted one 
day to speak to him about my affairs and he fled 
and would pay no attention." 

Mademoiselle felt the delights of a country 
covered with superb chateaux in which she was 
feted, and amiable cities which fired cannon in her 
honour. She made excursions during a large part 
of the summer (1653) and finally separated from 
her father most amicably. Eight days after, the 
situation however was more sombre than before 
her departure for Blois. The demands of Monsieur 
had not diminished, his language became still more 
hard and menacing. 

These differences lasted many years. Made- 
moiselle lets it be understood that it was a ques- 
tion of considerable sums. She relates sadly the 
progress of the ill-will of her father ; how painful 
her sojourn at Blois had been, so that she wept 
from morning till night ; how without the influence 
of Prefontaine she would have retired into a Carmel- 
ite convent ; " not to be a religieuse, God having 
never given me that vocation, but to live away from 
the world for some years." The ennui of the 
cloister life would have been compensated by the 
thought that it was an economical one. " I should 
save much money," said she ; and this thought 
consoled her. Once it was believed that an ami- 
cable solution was imminent. The father and 
daughter had submitted themselves to the arbitra- 
tion of the maternal grandmother of Mademoiselle, 



42 Louis XIV. and 

the old Mme. de Guise, who had made them pro- 
mise in writing to sign " all that she wished without 
reading the stipulations." 

The only result was a more definite embroilment. 
Mme. de Guise ^ " was devoted to her House," ^ that 
ambitious and intriguing House of Lorraine into 
which she had married, and with which she was 
again connected through the second wife of Gaston, 
sister of the Duke Henri.^ When Mademoiselle, 
after "signing without reading," realised the force 
of the " transaction " into which she had been led 
by her grandmother, she declared that Mme. de 
Guise had despoiled her with shocking bad faith, in 
order that her half-sisters, the little Lorraines, 
should no longer be menaced with the "poor- 
house." The love of family had extinguished with 
Mme. de Guise, as with Monsieur, all considera- 
tions of justice and sense of duty towards her own 
granddaughter. All this happened at Orleans in 
the month of May, 1655. Mademoiselle, indignant, 
ran to her grandmother : 

I told her that it was evident that she loved the House of 
Lorraine better than the House of Bourbon; that she was 
right in seeking to give money to my sisters, that they would 
have little from Madame, and this showed me, indeed, to be 
a lady of great wealth, enough to provide for others, and that 

' Saint-Simon, Merits inMits. 

^ Henriette-Catherine, Duchesse de Joyeuse, first married to Henri de 
Bourbon, Due de Montpensier, by whom she had Marie de Bourbon, 
mother of Mademoiselle; married for the second time to Charles de Lor- 
raine, Due de Guise, by whom she had several children. 

^ Henri de Lorraine reigned from 1608 to 1624. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 43 

the fortune of my family should be established upon what 
could be seized from me; but as I was so much above them 
that they could receive my benefactions, it would serve them 
better to depend upon my liberality rather than to attempt to 
swindle me; that this would be better before both God and 
man. 

This scene lasted three hours. The same day- 
Monsieur was warned that Mademoiselle refused to 
be "duped." He gave a precipitate order for 
departure, and declined to receive his daughter. 
In the disorder that ensued Madame almost went 
dinnerless and appeared much disconcerted. 

The attendants intervened to save appearances 
at least, and a formal leave was taken, but this 
was all ; the complete rupture was consummated. 
Upon the return to Saint-Fargeau, Mademoiselle 
at once learned that Monsieur had taken away her 
men of business, including the indispensable Pre- 
fontaine, and had left her without even a secretary. 
This gives a vision of the authority possessed by 
the chief of a family, and its limitations, with the 
princely houses of this epoch. We perceive how 
much better the fortune of Mademoiselle was de- 
fended against her father than her person and her 
independence. Monsieur did not dare to take 
away her money without a free and formal assent ; 
he knew that if things were not done regularly " in 
a hundred years the heirs of Mademoiselle could 
torment the children of Monsieur." In revenge 
for this disability he tyrannised over her household. 
And here he was in his full right. 



44 Louis XIV. and 

He could shut her up in a convent or in the 
Chateau of Amboise, as many counselled him to do, 
and this again would be within his legal powers. 
If he did nothing of the kind, it was only because, 
being nervous and impressionable, he dreaded 
feminine tears. 

Mademoiselle realised that she was at his mercy ; 
it did not occur to her to contest the parental 
authority — outside of the question of money. She 
wept, " suffered much," but she did not attempt to 
save Prefontaine. 

The years which followed were sad ones for her. 
Until this time she had had but two days of grief a 
week, those upon which the courier arrived, on 
account of the business letters which must be read 
and answered. She confined herself to her study 
to conceal her red eyes, but her correspondence 
once sent off, "I only thought," says she, "of 
amusing myself." 

Conditions changed when she was forced to 
understand that Monsieur, that father so contempt- 
ible, from whom she had suffered so much since 
her infancy, but so amiable that she admired and 
loved him notwithstanding, had no kind of affection 
for her. Very sensitive, in spite of her brusqueness, 
Mademoiselle experienced a profound grief at this 
reflection. Her temper gave way in a moment in 
which the young ladies of her suite, commencing 
to find the exile long, and to regret Paris, were 
ill-disposed to patience. There was coldness, fric- 
tions, and finally that domestic war, the account of 



La Grande Mademoiselle 45 

which fills a large space in the Mdmoires of Made- 
moiselle. 

Petty griefs, small intrigues, and much gossip 
rendered insupportable to one another persons con- 
demned to daily intercourse. Affairs became so 
strained between some of the parties that com- 
munication was impossible, and this state of 
things lasted until the most discontented, Mmes. 
de Fiesque and de Frontenac, had formed the de- 
termination to return to Paris. 

These quarrels had the effect of spoiling for 
Mademoiselle Saint-Fargeau, inclining her to sub- 
mission to the Court ; but mere mention is suffi- 
cient, and we shall not again refer to them. 

Mademoiselle commenced to be convinced of the 
imprudence of being at odds with the Court and 
her father at the same time. Her obstinacy in 
sustaining Conde had ended by seriously vexing 
Mazarln. The nobility felt this attitude and 
showed less fondness for the Princess. In 1655 
she approached to six leagues from Paris. She 
counted much upon visitors ; very few appeared. 
" I was responsible for so many Illnesses," says she 
wittily, " for all those who did not dare to confess 
that they feared to embroil themselves with the 
Court, feigned maladies or accidents in extraordin- 
ary numbers." 

The third day she received an order to " return." 
This misadventure enlightened her ; Mademoi- 
selle admitted the necessity of making peace with 
royalty. Just at this period the Prince de Conde 



46 Louis XIV. and 

grew less interesting to her, as his chances of 
becoming a widower diminished. Mme. la Prin- 
cesse became gradually re-established in health, 
and each of her steps towards recovery made 
Mademoiselle a little less warm for M. le Prince. 
This latter perceived the change, and at once 
altered his tone. " There is no rupture," says the 
Due d'Aumale, "but one can perceive the progress 
of the coolness and its accordance with certain 
news." 

A letter from Conde, received after the journey 
to the environs of Paris, gave warning of the end 
of a friendship which on one side at least was en- 
tirely political. 

Brussels, March 6, 1655. 

. . . As to this change which you declare to perceive in me, 
you do me much injustice and it seems to me that I have more 
right to reproach you than you me. Since your long silence 
the tone of your letters plainly indicates how different your 
present sentiments are from those of past times. This is not 
true of my own; they remain always the same and if you be- 
lieve otherwise and if you lend faith to the rumours which my 
enemies start, it is my misfortune, not crime; for I protest 
there is nothing in them, that affairs are not in this state, and 
if they were I should never listen to a proposition without 
full consideration for your interests and satisfaction, also not 
without your consent and participation. 

You will recognise the truth of this statement through my 
conduct and not one of my actions will ever give the lie to 
the words which I now give you, even if you should have for- 
gotten all the fine sentiments you had when you came to see 
our army, which I can hardly consider possible for a generous 
person like you. 

I knew that you came to Lesigny and that, the Court disap- 



La Grande Mademoiselle 47 

proving of this, you received orders to return, which fact gave 
me much displeasure. 

Mademoiselle did not longer want a pretext for 
withdrawing her pin from the game. The em- 
broilment with her father furnished it. She im- 
mediately prayed Conde to write to her no more. 
"It is necessary to hold back," said she to herself, 
"and if I am able without baseness to come into 
accord with the Cardinal Mazarin, I will do it in 
order to withdraw myself from the persecutions of 
his Royal Highness." 

Some days later the Comte de Bethune trans- 
mitted to the Cardinal overtures of peace from 
the Grande Mademoiselle. The Cardinal desired 
pledges. She sent a recall for the companies from 
the Spanish army, upon which M. le Prince with- 
out warning " held the soldiers and put the officers 
in prison." 

In vain the indignation of Mademoiselle. " It 
is seven or eight years," wrote Conde to one of 
the agents, " since I have really had the favour of 
Mademoiselle ; I formerly possessed her good 
graces, but if she now wishes to withdraw them 
I must accept, without desperation."-' Here is a 
man liberated rather than grieved. 

Thus failed, one after the other, the menaces 
directed by the Fronde against royalty. The pro- 
ject of alliance between the two cadet branches 
of the House of Bourbon had been inspired in 

' Letter of August lo, 1657, to the Comte d'Auteuil. 



48 Louis XIV. and 

Mademoiselle by the desire to marry. Few of 
the ideas of all those which menaced the throne 
which had entered into the brain of the revolu- 
tionary leaders seemed so dangerous and caused 
so much care to Mazarin. We must recollect that 
he would have been ready, in order to appease the 
cadet branches, to marry the little Louis XIV. to 
his great cousin. 

Reassured at length by the promises of Made- 
moiselle, who engaged herself to have nothing 
more to do with M. le Prince, Mazarin took the 
trouble to overcome his wrath and permitted her 
to expect the recompense for her submission. 

In general, Mazarin had shown himself easy with 
the repentant Frondeurs. The Prince de Conti 
had been feted at the Louvre in 1654. It is true 
that he accepted the hand of a niece of Mazarin in 
marriage, Anne Marie Martinozzi, on conditions 
which put him in bad odour with the public. " This 
marriage," wrote d'Ormesson,^ "is one of the most 
signal marks of the inconsistency of human affairs 
and the fickleness of the French character to be 
seen in our times." 

After Conti, another Prince, Monsieur, in person, 
entirely submerged as he was in laziness and devo- 
tions, exerted himself sufficiently to come to Court. 
The welcome involved conditions which contained 
nothing hard nor unusual for Gaston d'Orleans ; it 

^ Andre d'Ormesson died in 1665, dean of the Council of State. Some 
fragments of his memoirs have been published by Cheruel, in the course of 
the Journal of his son, Olivier d'Ormesson, 



La Grande Mademoiselle 49 

cost him nothinor but the abandonment of some 
last friends. In truth, he received but little in ex- 
change. When he came to salute the King every- 
one made him feel that he was already " in the 
ranks of the dead," according to the expression of 
Mme. de Motteville. The ill-humour caused by 
this impression quickly sent him back to Blois, 
which was precisely what was wished. 

It was the men of business who profited above 
all by this reconciliation. They had greater free- 
dom to harass Mademoiselle, and left her neither 
time nor repose. Their end was to make her exe- 
cute the transaction signed at Orleans, but she 
held her own, without counsel or secretary. She 
only suffered from an enormous labour, of which her 
minority accounts were only a chapter, and not the 
most considerable. The administration of the im- 
mense domains had fallen entirely upon herself. 
It was now Mademoiselle who opened the mass of 
letters arriving from her registers, foresters, con- 
trollers, lawyers, farmers, and single subjects — in 
short, from all who in the principalities of Dombes 
or of Roche-sur-Yonne, in the duchies of Mont- 
pensier or of Catellerault, had an account to settle 
with her, an order to demand of her, or a claim to 
submit. 

It was Mademoiselle herself who replied ; she 
who followed the numerous lawsuits necessitated 
by the paternal management ; she who terminated 
the great affair of Champigny, of which the echo 
was wide-spread on account of the rank of the 



50 Louis XIV. and 

parties and of the remembrances awakened by the 
pleaders. 

Champigny was a productive territory situated 
in Touraine, and an inheritance of Mademoiselle. 
Richelieu had despoiled her of it when she was 
only a child, through a forced exchange for the 
Chateau of Bois-le-Vicomte, in the environs of 
Meaux. 

Become mistress of her own fortune, Mademoi- 
selle summoned the heirs of the Cardinal to give 
restitution, and had just gained her suit when Mon- 
sieur took away Prefontaine. The decree return- 
ing Champigny to her allowed her also damages, 
the amount to be decided by experts, for buildings 
destroyed and woods spoiled. Mademoiselle es- 
timated that these damages might reach a large sum ; 
she knew that with her father at Blois the rumour 
ran that she had been placed in cruel embarrass- 
ments and that it would be repeated to all comers 
that she had obtained almost nothing from this 
source. This report excited her to action. The 
moment arrived ; Mademoiselle went to Cham- 
pigny, and remained there during several weeks, 
spending entire days upon the heels of eighteen 
experts, procurers, lawyers, gentlemen, masons, 
carpenters, wood merchants, collected together to 
value the damages. She had long explanations 
with that " good soul Madelaine," counsellor of the 
Parliament, and charged with directing the investi- 
gation, who was confounded at the knowledge of 
the Princess. He said to her: "You know our 



La Grande Mademoiselle 51 

business better than we ourselves, and you talk of 
affairs like a lawyer." Operations finished, Made- 
moiselle had the pleasure of writing to Blois that 
this doubtful affair from which she was supposed 
to receive only " 50,000 francs, really amounted to 
550,000." She came out less generously from her 
litigation with her father. Mazarin rendered Made- 
moiselle the bad service of having her suit intro- 
duced by the King's counsellor. A decree confirmed 
the decision of Mme. de Guise, and there was 
nothing to do but to obey. Mademoiselle signed, 
" furiously " weeping, the act which despoiled her, 
and submitted with despair to the departure for 
Blois. 

She was going to visit her father, after having 
the thought flash through her mind that he could 
order her assassination. It is said there had been 
some question of this at Blois. " Immersed in 
melancholy reveries, I dreamed that his Royal 
Highness was a son of the Medicis, and I even re- 
flected that the poison of the Medicis must have 
already entered my veins and caused such thoughts." 

Her father, on the other hand, was going to over- 
whelm her with tenderness after having permitted 
it to be said without protest that Mademoiselle was 
preparing a trap, with the purpose of poisoning one 
of his gentlemen. 

Considering the times and the family, this was a 
situation only a little " strained " ; but Mademoi- 
selle was so little a " Medicis " that she made her 
journey a prey to a poignant grief, which was plainly 



52 Louis XIV. and 

to be read upon her countenance by the attendants 
at her arrival at Blois. 

" Upon my arrival I felt a sudden chill. I went 
directly to the chamber of Monsieur ; he saluted 
me and told me he was glad to see me. I replied 
that I was delighted to have this honour. He was 
much embarrassed." Neither the one nor the other 
knew what more to say. Mademoiselle silently 
forced back her tears. Monsieur, to give himself 
composure, caressed the greyhounds of his daugh- 
ter, La Reine and Madame Souris. Finally he 
said : " Let us go to seek Madame." 

" She received me very civilly and made many 
friendly remarks. As soon as I was in my own 
chamber. Monsieur came to see me and talked as 
if nothing disagreeable had passed between us." 
A single quarter of an hour had sufficed to bring 
back to him his freedom of spirit, and he made an 
effort to reofain the affections of his daughter. 

She had never known him to continue to be 
severe ; Monsieur counted upon this fact. He was 
attentive, flattered her weaknesses great and small, 
amused her with projects of marriage, and treated 
her greyhounds as personages of importance ; he 
could be seen at midnig-ht in the lower court in the 
midst of the dunghill, inquiring about Madame 
Souris, who had met with an accident. He did 
still better ; he wrote to Mazarin asking for an 
accommodation with Mademoiselle. 

After the rupture with Conde, it was evident 
from signs not to be mistaken that the hour was 



La Grande Mademoiselle 53 

approaching in which the all-powerful minister 
would pardon the heroine of Orleans and of 
Porte Saint-Antoine. In the month of July, 1656, 
Mademoiselle went to the baths of Forges, in 
Normandy. She had passed in sight of Paris; 
had sojourned in the suburbs without anxiety, and 
her name this time had not made "every one ill." 

Visitors had flocked. Mademoiselle had enter- 
tained at dinner all the princesses and duchesses 
then in Paris ; and she drew the conclusion, know- 
ing the Court and the courtiers, that her exile was 
nearing an end. " In truth," says she, ** I do not 
feel as much joy at the thought as I should have 
believed. When one reaches the end of a misery 
like mine, its remembrance lasts so long and the 
grief forms such a barrier against joy that it is 
long before the wall is sufficiently melted to per- 
mit happiness to be again enjoyed." 

Nevertheless the news of the letter from her 
father to Mazarin put her in a great agitation. 
The Court of France was then in the east of 
France where Turenne made his annual campaign 
against M. le Prince and the Spaniards. Made- 
moiselle resolved to approach in order to sooner 
receive the response of the Cardinal. 

She quitted Blois as she had arrived there, a 
stranger. One single thing could have touched 
her : the recall of Prefontaine and of her other servi- 
tors struck down for having been faithful. This 
Monsieur had absolutely refused; his exaggerated 
politeness and his grimaces of tenderness had only 



54 Louis XIV. and 

the result of alienating his daughter. She felt that 
he detested her and she no long^er loved him. 

Upon the route to Paris she doubled the length 
between her stopping-places. Impatience gained 
as she neared the end and the " barrier of grief " 
permitted itself gradually to be penetrated by joy. 

She again saw, in passing, Etampes-^ and its ruins, 
which already dated back five years and were found 
untouched by La Fontaine in 1663. So long and 
difficult in certain regions was the uplifting of 
France, after the wars of the Fronde, never taken 
very seriously by historians, doubtless because too 
many women were concerned in them. 

" We looked with pity at the environs of 
Etampes," wrote La Fontaine.^ " Imagine rows 
of houses without roofs, without windows, pierced 
on all sides ; nothing could be more desolate and 
hideous." He talked of it during an entire even- 
ing, not having the soul of a heroine of the Fronde, 
but Mademoiselle had traversed with indifference 
these same ruins in which the grass flourished in de- 
fault of inhabitants to wear it away. No remorse, no 
regret, however light, for her share in the respon- 
sibility for the ruin of this innocent people, had 
touched her mind, and yet she was considered to 
possess a tender heart. 

She learned at Saint-Cloud that she had been in- 

' Turenne had conquered the troops of the Prince at Etampes (May, 
1652), upon the occasion of a review in honour of Mademoiselle and of the 
disorder which resulted. See The Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle. 
Some weeks later, he besieged the town. 

* Letter to his wife, August 3, 1663. 




JEAN DE LA FONTAINE 
From an engraving by Grevedon 



La Grande Mademoiselle 55 

vited to rejoin the Court at Sedan. Mademoiselle 
took a route through Reims. She thus traversed 
Champagne, which had been a battle-field during 
the more than twenty years of the wars with Spain ^ ; 
and which appeared the picture of desolation. The 
country was depopulated, numbers of villages 
burned, and the cities ruined by pillage and forced 
contributions of war. 

More curious in regard to things which interest 
la canaille. Mademoiselle might have heard from 
the mouths of the survivors that of all the enemies 
who had trampled upon and oppressed this unfor- 
tunate people, the most cruel and barbarous had 
been her ally, the Prince de Conde, with whom were 
always found her own companies. She would not 
the less have written in her Al^^nozres, entirely uncon- 
sciously, apropos of her trouble in obtaining pardon 
from the Court : ** I had really no difference with 
the Court, and I was criminal only because I was 
the daughter of his Royal Highness." 

We have hardly the right to reproach her with 
this monstrous phrase. To betray one's country 
was a thing of too frequent occurrence to cause 
much embarrassment. The only men of this epoch 
who reached the point of considering the common 
people ^ and attaching the least importance to their 
sufferings were revolutionary spirits or disciples of 
St. Vincent de Paul. 

Mademoiselle had no leaning towards extremes. 

'Richelieu had declared war with Spain March 26, 1635. 
* The phrase is by Bussy-Rabutin. 



56 Louis XIV. and 

Neither her birth nor the sHghtly superficial cast of 
her mind fostered free opinions. During her jour- 
ney in Champagne, she was deHghted to hear again 
the cHnk of arms and the sound of trumpets. Maz- 
arin had sent a large escort. The skirmishers of 
the enemy swept the country even to the environs 
of Reims. A number of the people of the Court, 
seizing the occasion, joined themselves to her, in 
order to profit by her gens d'armes and light 
riders. 

Colbert also placed himself under her protection 
with chariots loaded with money which he W2>.s 
taking to Sedan, and this important convny was 
surrounded by the same " military pomp, as if it 
had guarded the person of the King." 

The great precautions were, perhaps, on account 
of the chariots of money ; the honours, however, 
were for Mademoiselle, and they much flattered her 
vanity. The commandant of the escort demanded 
the order from her. When she appeared the troops 
gave the military salute. A regiment which she 
met on her route solicited the honour of being pre- 
sented to her. She examined it closely, as a war- 
like Princess who understood military affairs, and 
of whom the grand Conde had said one day, 
apropos of a movement of troops, that " Gustavus 
Adolphus could not have done better." A cer- 
tain halt upon the grass in a meadow through 
which flowed a stream left an indelible impres- 
sion. Mademoiselle offered dinner this day to 
all the escort and almost all the convoy. The 



La Grande Mademoiselle 57 

sight of the meadow crowded with uniformed men 
and horses recalled to her the campaigns of her 
fine heroic times. " The trumpets sounded during 
dinner ; this gave completely the air of a true army- 
march." She arrived at Sedan intoxicated by the 
military spectacle of her route, and her entry 
showed this. Considering her late exile the lack 
of modesty might well be criticised. The Queen, 
Anne of Austria, driving for pleasure in the en- 
virons of Sedan, saw a chariot appear with horses 
at full gallop surrounded by a mass of cavalry : " I 
arrived in this field at full speed with gens d'armes 
and light riders, their trumpets sounding in a man- 
ner sufficiently triumphant." 

The entire Court of France recognised the Grande 
Mademoiselle before actually seeing her. Exile 
had not changed her, and this entrance truly in- 
dicated her weaknesses. 



CHAPTER II 

The Education of Louis XIV. — Manners — Poverty — Charity — Vincent de 
Paul, a Secret Society — Marriage of Louis XIV. — His Arrival at Power, 
on the Death of Mazarin — He Re-educates himself. 

THE remembrance of the Fronde was destined 
to remain a heavy weight during the remainder 
of the reign of Louis XIV. Its shadow dominated 
for more than half a century interior poHtics and 
decided the fate, good and bad, of the great famiHes. 

The word " Liberty " had become synonymous 
with " Licence, Confusion, Disorder,"^ and the an- 
cient Frondeurs passed the remainder of their Hves 
in disgrace, or at least in disfavour. The Grande 
Mademoiselle was never pardoned, although she did 
not wish to avow this, even to herself. She might 
have realised the fact at once upon her return to 
Court, if she had not decided to believe the contrary. 
Warnings were not wanting. The first was her en- 
counter with the Queen Mother in the field of Sedan. 

When Anne of Austria saw arrive to sound of 
trumpets, with manner at ease and triumphant, this 
insolent Princess who had drawn her cannon upon 
the King, hardly embracing her niece, the Queen 

' See the Memoir es de Louis XIV., edited by Charles Dreyss. The Me- 
moircs of Louis XIV. were not written by himself. He dictated them to 
his secretaries afterward adding notes in his own handwriting and correcting 
the proofs. See the Introduction by M. Dreyss. 

58 



Louis XIV. and La Grande Mademoiselle 59 

Mother burst into reproaches, and declared that 
after the battle of Saint-Antoine, ** if she had held 
her, she would have strangled her." ^ Mademoiselle 
wept ; the Court looked on. " I have forgotten 
everything," said the Queen at length, and her 
niece was easier to believe her. The meeting with 
the King was still more significant. He arrived on 
horseback, soaked and muddy, from the city of 
Montmedy, taken that same day from the Spaniards 
(August 7, 1657). 

His mother said to him, " Behold a young lady, 
whom I present to you and who is very sorry to 
have been so naughty ; she will be ' very good ' in 
future." The young King only laughed and replied 
by talking of the siege of Montmedy. 

Mademoiselle nevertheless departed from Sedan 
filled with joyous thoughts. She imagined reading 
in all eyes the news of marriage with the brother of 
the King, the little Monsieur. He was seventeen, 
she thirty, with hair already partially white. 

Some months ensued, passed in a half retreat, and 
the Grande Mademoiselle remained with the Court 
during the years of transition in which the per- 
sonal government of Louis XIV. was maturing. 
A new regime was being born and a new world 
with it. 

One could gradually see this new formation 
relegating to the shadow of the past the old spirit 
of independence, and stifling the confused aspira- 
tions of the country towards any legal liberties. 

' M^nioires de Mademoiselle de Montpensier , M^moires de Montglat. 



6o Louis XIV. and 

Mazarin incarnated this great political movement. 
On the eve of disappearance, this unpopular mini- 
ster had become all France. 

He was master; no one thought any longer of 
resisting him ; but he was always detested, never 
admired. France having at this date neither jour- 
nals nor parliamentary debates, the foreign policy 
of Mazarin, which in our eyes did him so much 
honour, remained very little known even at Paris. 
This explains why his glory has been in large part 
posthumous. It has increased in measure as it has 
been possible to judge of his entire policy, from 
documents contained in our national archives or in 
those of other countries. His correspondence dis- 
plays so fine a diplomatic genius, that the historians 
have turned aside from the evil side of the man, 
his littlenesses, in order to give full weight to his 
services as minister. Precisely a contrary course 
had been taken in the seventeenth century. Little 
besides the Cardinal's defects, open to all eyes, 
were realised. Bad fortune had redoubled his ra- 
pacity. Mazarin had guarded in his heart the ex- 
perience of poverty at the time in which he was 
expelled from the kingdom. He had sworn to 
himself that he would not again be taken without 
" ammunition." He had worked industriously since 
his return In putting aside millions In safe keeping. 
Everything aided him In raising this kind of war 
treasure. He sold high functions of State, and also 
those belonging to low degree, even to that of 
laundress to the Oueen. He shared the benefits 



La Grande Mademoiselle 6i 

with the corsairs to whom he gave letters of marque. 
He undertook contracts for public service, pocketed 
the money, left our ambassadors without salaries, 
our vessels and fortifications without means of sub- 
sistence. The army was crying with hunger and 
thirst as soon as he made himself its sutler and its 
commissariat. He furnished bread of diminished 
purity and even found means, said the courtiers, 
to make the soldiers, so rarely paid themselves, pay 
for the water they drank. Turenne once broke up 
his plate to distribute the pieces to his troops, 
who were perishing from want. 

Comical scenes mingled with these tragic ones. 
Bussy-Rabutin, who served in the army of Turenne, 
had been fortunate at play. The Cardinal had 
learned of this, and ordered it to be represented 
to Bussy that his pay which had been pledged in 
the game would be guarded by the Cardinal as 
his portion of the gain. He had extended his 
traffic into the royal palace. It was he who fur- 
nished furniture and utensils. He undertook to 
provide the Court mourning, and costumes for the 
f^tes : when the King danced a ballet, his first 
minister gained by the decorations and accessories. 
The housekeeping accounts passed through his 
hands. During the campaign of 1658, he sup- 
pressed the King's cook, in order to appropriate 
to himself what the table would have cost. Louis 
XIV. was forced to invite himself to dine with 
this one and that one. Mazarin touched even his 
pocket money and the young King permitted it 



62 Louis XIV. and 

with a patience which was a constant source of 
astonishment to the courtiers. His mother was 
neither better treated nor less submissive. 

The Cardinal was as jealous of his authority as 
of his money. The King had no voice in his 
council ; when he accorded a pardon, however 
trivial, his first minister revoked it, " scolding him 
like a schoolboy."^ 

It was said of the Queen Mother that her influ- 
ence was only worth a hundred crowns, and she 
agreed. Still more, she was scolded from morning 
till night. Age had rendered Mazarin insupport- 
able. He had no delicacy with the King, still less 
with the King's mother : the courtiers shrugged 
their shoulders in hearing him speak to Anne of 
Austria " as to a chambermaid"^ 

The Queen was not insensible to this rudeness. 
She confessed to the faithful Motteville " that the 
Cardinal had become so bad tempered and so avar- 
icious that she did not know how in the future it 
was going to be possible to live with him." But it 
did not seem to occur to her that it might be 
possible to live without the Cardinal. Can it be be- 
lieved that Anne of Austria and Mazarin were 
married, as La Palatine,^ mother of the Regent, as- 
serted ? As they gradually grew old, one Is tempted 
to believe It, so strongly the spectacle offered by 
these illustrious persons, he so disagreeable, she so 

' Montglat. ' Id. 

^Letters of January 3, 1717, of September 27, 1718, and of July, 1722. 
Madame adds in this last: " Now, all the circumstances are known," 



PRIERE DU ROY. 

Jesus-Christ Roy du Ciel et de la Terre, ie vous adore et reconnois pour 

le Roy des Roys. C'est de vostre Majeste Diuine que ie tiens ma Couronne : 
mon Dieu ie vous I'offre, pour la Gloire de la tres Saincte Trinite, et pour 
I'honneur de ia Reine des Agnes la Sacree Vierge Marie que iay choisy pour 
ma Protectrice, et des Estats que vous m'auez donne; Seigneur baillez 
moy vostre crainte et une si grande Sagesse et humilite, que ie puisse deuenir 
un homme selon vostre cceur; en sorte que ie merite efficacement le tiitre 
aimable de Louis Dieu donne le Pacifique pour maintenir vostre Peupie 
en Paix, afin qu'ii vous serve avec tranquilite, et I'acomplissement de 
toutes les Vertus. 

VCEU ET PRIERE DES PEUPLES POUR LE ROY. 

Adorable Redempteur Jesus-Christ, qui estes le distributeur des Cour- 
onnes, receuez la piete du Roy tres-Crestien, et exaucez ses Prieres respec- 
tueses faites par I'entremise de vostre Saincte Mere Vierge, que linfluence 
des Graces du St. Esprit luy soit donnee, afin croissant en aage, it croisse 
aussi en telle Sagesse, qu'il puisse maintenir voster peupie in Paix, pour 
mieux obseruer vos saincts cammandemens. 



(Translation of the above.) 
PRAYER OF THE KING. 

Jesus Christ, King of the Heavens and the Earth, I adore Thee and 
recognize Thee for the King of Kings, the divine majesty from whom I 
receive my crown, which I offer to Thee for the Glory of the Most Holy 
Trinity, and for the honor of the Queen of Angels, the blessed Virgin Mary, 
whom I have chosen as my Protector, and also of the States which Thou 
hast given me. Lord grant me due reverence and that I may possess so 
much wisdom and humility that I may become a man after Thine own 
heart, so that I may truly merit the title of the Beloved Louis, the God-given 
and peaceful, and be able to maintain Thy people in peace that they may 
live in tranquillity and virtuously serve Thee. 

VOW AND PRAYER OF THE PEOPLE. 

Adorable Redeemer Jesus Christ ; who art the giver of crowns ; regard 
the piety of the most Christian King and listen to his prayers for the inter- 
vention of the most blessed Mother Virgin; and grant that the influence 
of the Holy Spirit may so be poured out upon him that as he increases 
in years he may also grow in wisdom ; and that he may keep Thy people 
in peace that they may better be able to preserve Thy commands. 




LOUIS XIV. AS A BOY, DEDICATING HIS CROWN 
After the painting by Greg Huret 



La Grande Mademoiselle 63 

submissive, gives the impression of two destinies 
"united together," according to the expression of 
the Cardinal himself, ^ " by bonds which could not 
be broken." The question to be solved is, could 
Mazarin marry ? According to tradition he was not 
a priest. According to the Euridite that point is 
open to discussion. ^ Until this matter is fixed, the 
marriao-e of Anne of Austria with her minister will 
remain among historical enigmas, for everything 
said will be words in the air. 

The patience of Louis XIV. can only be explained 
by his entire bringing up and by the state of mind 
which had been its fruit. 

Louis's cradle had been surrounded by a crowd 
of servitors charged to watch over his least 
movement. His mother adored him and, for a 
queen, occupied herself much with him. Neverthe- 
less, there could hardly a child be found throughout 
the entire kingdom so badly cared for as the son of 
the King. 

Louis XIV. had never forgotten this neglect and 
spoke of it all his life with bitterness. 

" The King always surprises me," relates Mme. 
de Maintenon at Saint Cyr, " when he speaks to 
me of his education. His governesses gossiped the 

' Letter to the Queen, Anne of Austria, October 27, 165 1. 

'^ March 23, 1865, Pere Theiner, Guardian of the Secret Archives of 
the Vatican, replied to some one who had pressed the question: " Our acts 
of December 16, 1641, in which Jules Mazarin was created Cardinal, do 
not say whether or not he was a priest. How could he then have been 
admitted to the order of Cardinal-priest ? No doubt he was a priest." The 
letter of Pere Theiner has been published by M. Jules Loiseleur in his 
Problemes historiques. 



64 Louis XIV. and 

entire day, and left him in the hands of their maids 
without paying any attention to the young Prince." 
The maids abandoned him to his own devices and 
he was once found in the basin of the fountain in 
the Palais Royal. One of his greatest pleasures 
was to prowl in the kitchens with his brother, the 
little Monsieur. " He ate everything he could lay 
his hands on without paying attention to its health- 
fulness. If they were frying an omelette, he would 
break off a piece, which he and Monsieur devoured 
in some corner." ^ One day when the two little 
Princes thus put their fingers into the prepared 
dishes, the cooks impatiently drove them away with 
blows from dishcloths. He played with any one. 
" His most frequent companion," again relates 
Mme. de Maintenon, "was the daughter of the 
Queen's own maid." When he was withdrawn 
from such surroundings, to be led to his mother, 
or to figure in some ceremony, he appeared a bash- 
ful boy who looked at people with embarrassment 
without knowing what to say, and who cruelly suf- 
fered from this shyness. 

One day after they had given him a lesson, his 
timidity prevented him from remembering the right 
words and he burst into tears with rage and anger. 
The King of France to make a fool of himself ! 

At five and a half years, they gave him a tutor 
and many masters, ^ but he learned nothing. Maz- 

* Letters of Madame de Mahitenon edited by Geoffroy. 
^ For further details see the excellent volume of M, Lacour-Gayet, 
L' education politique de Louis XIV. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 65 

arin for reasons known to himself would not force 
him to work ; and circumstances favoured the views 
of the first minister. The Fronde came, and rend- 
ered any study impossible on account of the 
complete upsetting of the daily life of the Court of 
France, which was only encamped when it was not 
actually on the move. Louis XIV. was fourteen at 
the date of the reinstallation of the Court at the 
Louvre and there was no question of making him 
recover the lost time ; he thenceforth passed his 
days in hunting, in studying steps for the ballet, 
and in amusing himself with the nieces of the 
Cardinal. The political world believed that it 
divined the reason for this limited education and 
severely expressed its opinion about it. " The 
King," wrote the Ambassador from Venice,^ " ap- 
plies himself the entire day to learning the ballet. 
Games, dances, and comedies are the only 
subjects of conversation with the King, the inten- 
tion being to turn him aside from affairs more solid 
and important." The Ambassador returns to the 
same subject upon the occasion of an Italian opera,^ 
in which the King exhibited himself as Apollo sur- 
rounded by beautiful persons representing the nine 
muses: 

Certain people blame this affair, but these do not under- 
stand the politics of the Cardinal, who keeps the King ex- 
pressly occupied with pastimes, in order to turn his attention 

' December 24th, Relations des ambassadeurs ve'nitiens. 
"^ The letter is dated April 21, 1654. Louis XIV. was then fifteen 
and a half years of age. 
5 



66 Louis XIV. and 

from solid and important pursuits, and whilst the King is 
concerned in rolling machines of wood upon the stage, the 
Cardinal moves and rolls at his good pleasure, upon the 
theatre of France, all the machines of state. 

Some few observers, of whom Mazarin himself 
was one, divined that this youth, with his air of 
being absorbed in tomfooleries, secretly reflected 
upon his profession of King, and upon the means of 
rendering himself capable of sustaining it. Nature 
had endowed him with the instinct of command, 
joined to a very lively sentiment of the duties of 
his rank. Louis says in his M^moires, ** even from 
infancy the names alone of the kings faindants 
and mayors of the palace gave me pain if pro- 
nounced in my presence." ^ 

His preceptor, the Abbe of Perefixe, had encour- 
aged this sentiment, at the same time, however, 
permitting his pupil, by a contradiction for which 
perhaps he was not responsible, to take the road 
which leads in the direction of idleness, and thus 
making it possible for Louis to become a true King 
faineant himself. 

Perefixe had written for the young King a history 
of King Henry the Great in which one reads 

that royalty is not the trade of a do-nothing, that it con- 
sists almost entirely of action, that a King should make a 
pleasure of his duty, that his enjoyment should be in reigning 
and he only should know how to reign, that is, he should him- 
self hold the helm of the state. His glory is interested in this. 

' Mme. de Motteville had heard him express the same idea. Cf. his 
MAnoires, v., lor, ed. Petitot. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 67 

In truth, who does not know that there can be no honour in 
bearing a title whose functions one does not fulfil — 

a doctrine which would suppress the first ministers 
and by which Louis XIV. profited later. 

Chance came to the aid of the preceptor. On June 
19, 165 1, the ancient governess of the King, Mme. 
de Lansac, disturbed him in the midst of a lesson, 
in order to make a g-ift of " three letters written 
by Catherine de Medicis to Henry III.,^ her son, 
for his edification." Perefixe took the letters and 
read them aloud, the King listening "with much 
attention." One of them was almost a memorial.^ 
In it, Catherine gave to her son the same precept as 
Perefixe to his pupil : " a king must reign," that is 
to say, carry out the functions belonging to his title. 
In order to " reign," one must begin to work at 
once upon awakening, read all the dispatches and 
afterwards the replies, speak personally to the 
agents, receive every morning accounts of receipts 
and expenditures ; pursue this course from morning 
till night, and every day of one's life. It was the 
programme for a slave to power, Louis XIV. 
made it his own, in the bottom of his soul ; he was 
not yet thirteen. 

Such beautiful resolutions however, were destined 
to remain dead so long as Mazarin lived. They 
could only be executed to the detriment of his 

^ Les fragments des ftiemoires inedits by Dubois, valet of Louis XIV., 
published by Leon Aubineau in the Biblotheque de I' Ecole des Chartes, 
and in his Notices litteraires upon the 17th century. 

^ Cf. Lacour-Gayet, p. 203. 



68 Louis XIV. and 

authority, and the idea of entering into a struggle 
with the Cardinal was repugnant to the young 
King, partially on account of old affection, par- 
tially on account of timidity and the habit of 
obedience. 

The mind of Louis XIV. had however been 
awakened and the fruits of this awakening were 
later visible, but for a time he was content to find 
good excuses for leaving affairs alone. He explains 
in his Mdmoires that he was arrested by political 
reasons ; as he had too much experience also (how- 
ever strange this word may appear when applied 
to a child so foolishly brought up) not to realise 
the danger of a revolution in the royal palace In 
the present condition of France after the devasta- 
tions of the civil wars. 

In default of the science which one draws from 
books, Louis XIV. had received lessons In realities 
from the Fronde : The riots and barricades, the 
vehement discourse of the Parliament to his mother, 
the humiliating flights with the Court, the periods of 
poverty in which his servants had no dinner and he 
himself slept with his sheets full of holes, and wore 
clothes too short, the battles In which his subjects 
fired upon him, the treasons of his relations and of 
his nobility and their shameful bargains ; nothing 
of all this had been lost upon the young King. 

With a surface order re-established, he perceived 
how troubled the situation remained at bottom, 
how precarious, and he judged It prudent to defer 
what he both "wished" and "feared," says very 



La Grande Mademoiselle 69 

clearly his MSmoires. He queries if this were an 
error : 

It is necessary [says he] to represent to one's self the 
state of affairs: Agitations throughout the entire kingdom 
were at their height; a foreign war continued in which a 
thousand advantages had been lost to France owing to these 
domestic troubles; a Prince of my own blood and a very 
great name at the head of my enemies; many cabals in the 
state; the Parliaments still in possession of usurped authority; 
in my own Court very little of either fidelity or interest, and 
above all my subjects, apparently the most submissive, were 
as great a care and as much to be suspected as those most 
openly rebellious. 

Was this the moment in which to expose the 
country to new shocks ? 

Louis XIV. had remained convinced^ to the 
contrary, avowing, however, that he had much to 
criticise in the fashions of Mazarin, 

a minister [pursued he] re-established in spite of so many 
factions, very able, very adroit, who loved me and whom I 
loved, and who had rendered me great services, but whose 
thoughts and manners were naturally very different from 
mine, and whom I could not always contradict nor discredit 
without anew exciting, by that image, however erroneous, of 
disgrace, the same tempests which had been so difficult to 
calm. 

The King had also to take into consideration his 
own extreme youth, and his Ignorance of affairs. 
He relates in regard to this point his ardent desire 
for glory, his fear of beginning ill, " for one can 
never retrieve one's self "; his attention to the 

' M. Dreyss dates the writing of this portion of the M/moires about 
1670. 



70 Louis XIV. and 

course of events " in secret and without a confi- 
dant " ; his joy when he discovered that people 
both able and consummate shared his fashion of 
thinking. 

Considering everything, had there ever been a 
being urged forward and retarded so equally, in his 
design to take upon himself " the guidance of the 
state " ? 

This curious page has no other defect than that 
of having been dictated by a man matured, in 
whose thoughts things have taken a clearness not 
existing in the mind of the youth, and who believes 
himself to recollect "determinations" when there 
existed in reality only " desires." 

Louis XIV. would be unpardonable if full credit 
were given to his Mdmoires. Why, if he saw so 
clearly, did he grumble at any kind of work ? 
When Louis was sixteen, Mazarin had arranged 
with him some days in which he might be present 
at a council. The King was bored and retired to 
talk of the next ballet and to play the guitar with 
his intimates. Mazarin was obliged to scold him 
to force him to return and remain at the council. 

With a capacity for trifling, he cared for nothing 
serious, and there was much laziness contained in 
his resolution to leave all to his minister. The 
Court had formed its own opinion : it considered 
the young King incapable of application. It was 
also said that he lacked intelligence, and in this 
belief there was no error. Louis himself alluded 
to this and said with simplicity, " I am very stupid." 



La Grande Mademoiselle 71 

The libertine youth who surrounded him, and 
whom his solemn air restrained, did not conceal the 
fact that they found him a great bore, as probably 
did also Madame de Maintenon a half-century later. 
The Guiche and the Vardes believed him doomed 
to insignificance and did not trouble themselves 
much about him. The city was less convinced 
that he was a cipher, perhaps because otherwise 
it could not so easily have taken his part. Paris 
was commencing to fear those princes with whom, 
for one reason or another, first ministers were ne- 
cessary, and the Parisian bourgeoisie was on the 
watch for some proof of intelligence in the young 
monarch. " It is said that the mind of the King is 
awakening," wrote Guy Patin in 1654; "God be 
thanked ! " 

This first light not having an apparent devel- 
opment, Paris, whilst waiting for something better, 
admired the looks of the sovereign. ** I have 
to-day seen the King on his way to the chase," 
again wrote Guy Patin four years later. " A fine 
Prince, strong and healthy ; he is tall and graceful ; 
it is a pity that he does not better understand his 
duties."^ His serious air was also lauded, his dis- 
like to debauchery in any form, and the modesty 
which made him bravely reply before the entire 
Court, to a question about a new play : *' I never 
judge a subject about which I know nothing." ^ 

This was not the response of a fool. 

'Letters of June 9, 1654, and April 9, 1658. 

^ Segraisiana. Louis XIV. was seventeen when he made this remark. 



72 Louis XIV. and 

In fine, as he was very cold, very capable of dis- 
simulation, as he spoke little, through calculation as 
much as through instinct, and generally confined his 
conversation to trifles, this youth upon whom all 
France had its eyes fixed remained an unknown 
quantity to his subjects. 

In September, 1657, two strangers crossing the 
Pont Neuf found themselves in the midst of a 
pressure of people. The crowd precipitated itself 
with cries of joy towards a carriage whose livery 
had been recognised. 

It was the Grande Mademoiselle returninpf from 
exile, and coming to take possession of the palace 
of the Luxembourg, in which her father permitted 
her to lodge, feeling certain that he himself should 
never return to it. The two strangers noted in their 
Journal de Voyage ^ that the Parisians bore a '* par- 
ticular affection " for this Princess, because she had 
behaved like a " true amazon " during the civil war. 

The Court had resigned itself to the inevitable. 
Mademoiselle had remained popular in Paris, and 
her exploits during the Fronde and her fine bearing 
at the head of her reg^iment were remembered with 
enthusiasm. She only passed through the city at 
this time, having affairs to regulate in the Provinces. 
Upon her definite return on December 31st, the 
Court and the city crowded to see her. The 
Luxembourg overflowed during several days, after 
which, when society had convinced itself that 
Mademoiselle had no longer a face " fresh as a 

' yournal de voyage de deux jeunes Hollandais h Paris (1656-1658). 








LOUIS XIV. AS A YOUNQ MAN 
From a chalk drawing in the British Museum Print Room 



La Grande Mademoiselle 73 

fully blown rose," ^ its curiosity was satisfied and it 
occupied itself with something else. 

Mademoiselle herself had much to do. The idea 
of marrying the little Monsieur had not left her 
mind since the meeting at Sedan. She was assured 
that the Prince was dying of desire for her, and 
Mademoiselle naively responded that she very well 
perceived this. " This does not displease me," adds 
she ; " a young Prince, handsome, well-made, brother 
of the King, appears a good match." 

In expectation of the betrothal, she stopped her 
pursuits of the happy interval at Saint-Fargeau in 
which she had loved intellectual pleasures, in order 
to make herself the comrade of a child only ab- 
sorbed in pastimes belonging to his age, and passed 
the winter in dancing, in masquerading, in rushing 
through the promenades and the booths of the fair 
of Saint-Germain.^ 

The public remarked that the little Monsieur ap- 
peared " not very gay " with his tall cousin, and 
troubled himself but little to entertain her,^ and that 
he would have preferred other companions better 
suited to his seventeen years. 

Mademoiselle did not perceive this. Philip, Duke 
of Anjou, had a face of insipid beauty posed upon 
a little round body. He did not lack esprit, had 
not an evil disposition, and would have made an 

" Mdmoires de Mme. de Motteville . 

^ The fair of Saint-Germain was lield between Saint-Sulpice and Saint- 
Germain-des-Pres, from February 3d to the evening before Palm Sunday. 
The Court and the populace elbowed each other there. 

^ yournal de deux jeunes Hollafidais. 



74 Louis XIV. and 

amiable prince if reasons of state had not tended 
to reduce him to the condition of a marionette. 

His mother and Mazarin had brought him up 
as a girl, for fear of his later troubling his elder 
brother, and this education had only too well suc- 
ceeded. By means of sending him to play with the 
future Abbe de Choisy, who put on a robe and 
patches to receive him ; by means of having him 
dressed and barbered by the Queen's maids of hon- 
our and putting him in petticoats and occupying him 
with dolls, he had been made an ambiguous being, 
a species of defective girl having only the weak- 
nesses of his own sex. Monsieur had a new coat 
every day and it worried him to spot it, and to be 
seen with his hair undressed or in profile when he 
believed himself handsomer in full face. Paris 
possessed no greater gossip ; he babbled, he med- 
dled, he embroiled people by repeating everything, 
and this amused him. 

Mademoiselle considered it her duty to " preach " 
to him of " noble deeds," but she wasted her time. 
He was laziness and weakness Itself. The two 
cousins were Ill-adapted to each other In every way. 

When they entered a salon together, Monsieur 
short and full, attired in the costume of a hunter, 
his garments sewed from head to foot with precious 
stones. Mademoiselle a little masculine of figure 
and manner and negligent in her dress, they were 
a singular couple. Those who did not know them 
opened their eyes wide, and they were often seen 
together In the winter at least, for the society was 



La Grande Mademoiselle 75 

at this date most mixed, even in the most elite 
circles. 

From Epiphany to Ash- Wednesday, the Parisians 
had no greater pleasure than to promenade masked 
at night, and to enter without invitation into any 
house where an entertainment was taking place. 
Louis XIV. gladly joined in these gaieties. Upon 
one evening of Mardi-Gras, when he was thus run- 
ning the streets with Mademoiselle, they met Mon- 
sieur dressed as a girl with blond hair.^ Keepers 
of inns sent their guests to profit by this chance of 
free entry. A young Dutchman related that he went 
the same night " with those of his inn " to five great 
balls, the first at the house of Mme. de Villeroy, 
the last with the Duchess of Valentinois, and that 
he had seen at each place more than two hundred 
masks.^ 

The crowd would not permit that entrance should 
be refused on any pretext. 

The same Dutchman reports with a note of bit- 
terness that on another evening it had been im- 
possible to penetrate into the house of the Marechal 
de I'Hopital, because the King being there, measures 
had been taken to avoid too great a crowd. Cus- 
tom obliged every one to submit to receiving 
society, choice or not. At a grand f6te given by 
the Due de Lesdiguieres, which in the bottom of 
his heart he was offering to Mme. de Sevigne, 
" The King had hardly departed when the crowd 

' Mdmoires of Mademoiselle. 

* yournal de deux jeunes Hollandais. 



76 Louis XIV. and 

commenced to scuffle and to pillage every thing, 
until, as it was stated, it became necessary to replace 
the candles of the chandeliers four or five times 
and this single article cost M. de Lesdiguieres 
more than a hundred pistoles."-^ 

Such domestic manners had the encouragement 
of the King, who also left his doors open upon 
the evenings on which he danced a ballet. He did 
better still. He went officially to sup " with the 
Sieur de la Baziniere," ancient lackey become 
financier and millionaire, and having the bearing, 
the manners, and the ribbon cascades of the Mar- 
quis de Mascarille. He desired that Mademoiselle 
should invite to the Luxembourg, Mme. de I'Hopi- 
tal, ancient laundress married twice for her beauti- 
ful eyes ; the first time by a partisan, the second 
by a Marshal of France. These lessons were not 
lost upon the nobility. Mesalliances were no more 
discredited, even the lowest, the most shameful, 
provided that the dot was sufficient. A Duke and 
Peer had married the daughter of an old charioteer. 
The Marechal d'Estrees was the son-in-law of a 
partisan known under the name of Morin the Jew. 
Many others could be cited, for the tendency in- 
creased from year to year. 

In 1665, the King having entered Parliament,^ 
in order to confirm an edict, a group of men 
amongst whom was Olivier d'Ormesson were re- 
garding the Tribune in which were seated the 
ladies of the Court. Some one thought of countinof 

' yournal de deux jeuttes Hollandais. ''April 29th. 



La Grande Mademoiselle TJ 

how many of these were daughters of parvenues or 
of business men ; he found three out of six. Two 
others were nieces of Mazarin, married to French 
nobles.^ The single one of aristocratic descent was 
Mile. d'Alengon, a half-sister of the Grande Made- 
moiselle. One could hardly have anticipated such 
figures, even allowing for chance. 

The King, however, approved of this state of 
affairs and the nobility was ruined ; every one 
seized on what support he could. The general 
course of affairs was favourable to this confusion 
of rank. From the triumphal re-entry of Mazarin 
in 1653, until his death in 1661, a kind of universal 
freedom continued at the Court which surprised the 
ancient Frondeurs on their return from exile. The 
young monarch himself encouraged familiarities 
and lack of etiquette. 

It was the nieces of the Cardinal who were 
largely responsible for these changes in manners 
and who gained their own profit through the ad- 
ditional freedom, since Marie, the third of the 
Mancini, was soon to almost touch the crown with 
the tip of her finger. Mademoiselle had some 
trouble in accustoming; herself to the new manners 
towards the King. 

For me [says she], brought up to have great respect, this 
is most astonishing, and I have remained long time without 
habituating myself to this new freedom. But when I saw 
how others acted, when the Queen told me one day that the 

' To the Due de Bouillon and to the son of the Marshal Due de La 
Meilleraye, who took the title of Due de Mazarin. 



78 Louis XIV. and 

King hated ceremony, then I yielded; for without this high 
authority the faults of manner could not be possible with 
others. 

The pompous Louis XIV. wearing the great 
wig of the portraits did not yet exist, and the 
Louvre of 1658 but Httle resembled the particular 
and formal Versailles of the time of Saint-Simon.^ 

The licence extended to morals. Numbers of 
women of rank behaved badly, some incurred the 
suspicion of venality, and no faults were novelties ; 
but vice keeps low company and it was this result 
which proud people like Mademoiselle could not 
suffer. 

When it was related to her that the Duchesse de 
Chatillon, daughter of Montmorency-Boutteville, 
had received money from the Abbe Foucquet^ and 
wiped out the debt by permitting such lackey-like 
jokes as breaking her mirrors with blows of the 
foot, she was revolted. "It is a strange thing," 
wrote she, " this difference of time ; who would 
have said to the Admiral Coligny, ' The wife of 
your grandson will be maltreated by the Abbe 
Foucquet '? — he would not have believed it, and 
there was no mention at all of this name of Foucquet 
in his time." 

In the mind of Mademoiselle, who had lived 
through so many periods, it was the low birth of 
the Abbe which would have affected the Admiral. 

' It must not be forgotten that Saint-Simon was presented at Court in 
1692. Louis XIV. was then fifty-four, and had reigned forty-nine years. 
Saint-Simon only knew the end of the reign. 

^ Brother of the Superintendent of Finances. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 79 

" Whatever may be said," added she, " I can never 
believe that persons of quality abandon themselves 
to the point which their slanderers say. For even 
if they did not consider their own safety, worldly 
honour is in my opinion so beautiful a thing that 
I do not comprehend how any one can despise it." 

Mademoiselle did not transgress upon the re- 
spect due to the hierarchy of rank ; for the rest, 
she contented herself with what are called the 
morals of respectable people, which have always 
been sufficiently lenient. She understood, how- 
ever, all the difference between this morality and 
Christian principles. 

The Provinciales (1656) had made it clear to the 
blindest that it was necessary to choose between 
the two. Mademoiselle had under this influence 
made a visit to Port Royal des Champs ^ and had 
been entirely won by these " admirable people " 
who lived like saints and who spoke and wrote 
" the finest eloquence," while the Jesuits would have 
done better to remain silent, " having nothing good 
to say and saying it very badly," '* for assuredly 
there were never fewer preachers amongst them 
than at present nor fewer good writers, as appears 
by their letters. This is why for all sorts of 
reasons they would have done better not to write." 

Seeing Mademoiselle so favourably impressed, 
one of the Monsieurs of Port Royal, Arnauld d'An- 
dilly, said upon her departure, " You are going to 
the Court ; you can give to the Queen account of 

^ In the summer of 1657. 



8o Louis XIV. and 

what you have seen." — " I assure you that I will 
willingly do this." 

Knowing her disposition, there is but little doubt 
that she kept her word ; but this was all. The 
worthy Mademoiselle, incapable of anything low or 
base, did not dream for a second of allowing the 
austere morality, ill fitted for the needs of a court, 
to intervene in influencing her judgments upon 
others, or in the choice of her friends. She blamed 
the Duchesse de Chatillon for reasons with which 
virtue, properly named, had nothing to do. We see 
her soon after meeting Mme. de Montespan, because 
common morality has nothing to blame in a King's 
mistress. 

Mme. de Sevigne agfreed with Mademoiselle and 
they were not alone. This attitude gave a kind of 
revenge to the Jesuits. 

Tastes became as common as sentiments ; those 
of the King were not yet formed, and the pleasure 
taken in the ballet in the theatre of the Louvre in- 
jured the taste for what was, in fact, no longer 
tragedy. Corneille had given up writing for the 
first time in 1652, after the failure of his Pertharite. 
The following year, Quinault made his debut and 
pleased. He taught in his tragi-comedies, flowery 
and tender, that " Love makes everything permiss- 
ible," which had been said by Honore d'Urfe in 
r Astrde, a half-century previous, and he retied, 
without difficulty, after the Corneillian parenthesis, 
the thread of a doctrine which has been transmitted 
without interruption to our own da3^s. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 8i 

Love justifies everything, for the right of passion 
is sacred, nothing subsists before it. 

Dans I'empire amoureux, 

Le devoir n'a point de puissance. 

L'eclat de beaux yeux adoucit bien un crime ; 
Au regard des amants tout parait legitime.' 

The idea which this verse expresses can be found 
throughout the works of Quinault. He has said it 
again and again, with the same langourous, insinu- 
ating sweetness, for a period which lasted more 
than thirty years, and in the beginning no one very 
seriously divided with him the attention of the 
public. 

At the appearance of his first piece in 1653, Ra- 
cine was fourteen ; Moliere did not return to Paris 
until 1658. Corneille, in truth, was preparing his 
return to the theatre ; but he found when his last 
tragedies were played, that he had done well to 
study Quinault, and in doing this he had not 
wasted his time; — a decisive proof of the echo 
to which souls responded, ^ and of the increasing 
immorality of the new era. 

Thus the Court of France lost its prestige. The 
eclat cast by the Fronde upon the men and women 
seeking great adventures had been replaced by no 
new enthusiasms. The pleasures to which entire 
lives were devoted had not always been refining, as 
we have seen above, and people had not grown in 

' Vers d Atys, opera played in 1676, and d'Astrate, tragedy of 1663. 
* The phrase is M. Jules Lemaitre's, 



82 Louis XIV. and 

intelligence. The bold crowd of the Mazarins 
gave the tone to the Louvre, and this tone lacked 
delicacy. The Queen, Anne of Austria, groaned 
internally, but she had loosed the reins ; except in 
the affair of her son's marriage she had nothing to 
refuse to the nieces of Cardinal Mazarin. 

Because the Court was in general lazy and frivo- 
lous, a hasty opinion of the remainder of France 
should not be formed. The Court did not fairly 
represent the entire nation ; outside of it there was 
room for other opinions and sentiments. It was 
during the years of 1650 to 1656, which appear to 
us at first sight almost a moral desert, that private 
charity made in the midst of France one of its 
greatest efforts, an effort very much to the honour 
of all concerned in it. 

I have noticed elsewhere ^ the frightful poverty of 
the country during the Fronde. This distress which 
was changing into desert places one strip after an- 
other of French territory, must be relieved, and 
amongst those in authority no one was found capa- 
ble of doinor it. 

It is hardly possible to represent to one's self to- 
day the condition left by the simple passage of an 
army belonging to a civilised people, through a 
French or German land, two or three hundred 
years ago. 

' See The Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle. For this chapter cf. 
La misere au temps de la Fronde et Saint- Vincent de Paul, by Feillet ; La 
cabale des divots, by Raoul Allier ; Sai7it- Vincent de Paul, by Emanuel 
Broglie ; Saint- Vincent de Paulet les Goudi, by Chantelauze ; Pof t-Royal, 
by Sainte-Beuve. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 83 

The idea of restricting the sufferings caused by 
war to those which are inevitable is a novel one. 
In the seventeenth century, on the contrary, the 
effort was to increase them. The chiefs for 
the most part showed a savage desire to excite the 
mania for destruction which is so easily aroused 
with soldiers during a campaign. Towards the 
end of the Fronde, some troops belonging to 
Conde, then in the service of the King of Spain, 
occupied his old province of Bourgogne. If any 
district of France could have hoped to be respected 
by the Prince, it was this one ; his father had pos- 
sessed it before him and it was full of their friends. 
Ties of this kind, however, were of no advantage. 
March 23, 1652, the States of Bourgogne wrote to 
M. de Bielle, their deputy at Court : 

The enemies having already burned fourteen villages [the 
names follow], besides others since burned, these fire-fiends 
are still in campaign and continuing these horrible ravages, 
all which has been under the express order of M. le Prince, 
which the commandant [de la ville] de Seurre has received, 
to burn the entire Province if it be possible. The same Sieur 
de Bielle can judge by the account of these fires, to which 
there has so far been no impediment presented, in what state 
the Province will be in a short time. 

The common soldier troubled himself little 
whether the sacked region was on the one or the 
other side of the frontier. He made hardly any 
difference. 

Some weeks after the fires in Bourgogne, two 
armies tortured the Brie. The one belonged to 



84 Louis XIV. and 

the King, the other to the Due de Lorraine, and 
there was only a shade less of cruelty with the 
French forces than with the others. When all the 
troops had passed, the country was filled with 
charnel houses, and there are charnel houses and 
charnel houses. 

That of Rampillon,^ particularly atrocious, must 
be placed to the account of the Lorraines : " at 
each step one met mutilated people, with scattered 
limbs ; women cut in four quarters after violation ; 
men expiring under the ruins of burning houses, 
others spitted." ^ No trouble was taken to suppress 
these hells of infection. 

It would be difficult to find any fashion of carry- 
ing on a war both more ferocious and more stupid. 
Some chiefs of divisions, precursers of humanitarian 
ideas, timidly protested, in the name of interest 
only, against a system which always gave to cam- 
paigning armies the plague, famine, and universal 
hatred. A letter addressed to Mazarin, and signed 
by four of these, Fabert at the head, supplicates 
him to arrest the ravao-es of a foreig^ner in the 
services of France, M. de Rosen. Mazarin took 
care to pay no attention to this protest : it would 
have been necessary first to pay Rosen and his 
soldiers. If it is expected to find any sense of re- 
sponsibility in the State, in the opinion of contem- 
poraries, for saving the survivors, left without 
bread, animals, nor harvests, without roof and with- 

' Village of the arrondissement of Provins. 
^ Feillet, La mis^re au temps de la Fronde. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 85 

out working tools, there is disappointment ; the 
State held itself no more responsible for public dis- 
asters than for the poor, always with it. 

The conception of social duty was not yet born. 
Public assistance was in its infancy, and the little 
which existed had been completely disorganised by 
the general disorders ; like everything else. Each 
city took care of its beggars or neglected them ac- 
cording to its own resources and circumstances. 
On the other hand, the idea of Christian charity 
had taken a strong hold upon some circles, under 
the combined influence of the Jansenism which ex- 
acted from its devotees a living faith ; of a secret 
Catholic society whose existence is one of the most 
curious historical discoveries of these last years'^ ; 
and of a poor saint whose peasant airs and whose 
patched soutane caused much laughter when he 
presented himself before the Queen. Vincent de 
Paul is easily recognised. Relations with great 
people had not changed him. It was said of him 
after years of Court society, " M. Vincent is always 
M. Vincent," and this was true : men of this calibre 
never change, happily for the world. 

He became the keynote of the impulse which 
caused the regeneration of provincial life, almost 
ruined by the wars of the Fronde. Even after the 
work was ended it would be difficult to decide upon 
the share of each of these bodies in this colossal 
enterprise. The society to which allusion has 
been made was founded in 1627, by the Due de 

' See the volume of Raoul Allier, La cabale des devots. 



86 Louis XIV. and 

Ventadour, whose mystical thought had led him, 
as often happens, to essentially practical works. 
The name of Compagnie du Saint Sacrement 
was given it, and without doubt its supreme end 
was " to make honoured the Holy Sacrament." 

Precisely on account of this, the society sought 
to " procure " for itself " all the good " in its power, 
for nothing is more profitable to religion than sup- 
port, material as well as spiritual and moral, dis- 
tributed under its inspiration and as one might say 
on its own part. 

One passes easily from the practice of chanty, 
a source of precious teaching, to the correction of 
manners. After comes the desire to control souls, 
which naturally leads to the destruction of heresies, 
with or without gentleness. 

This programme was responsible for many ad- 
mirable charitable works, two centuries in advance 
of current ideas, and, at the same time, for cruelties, 
infamies, all the vices inseparable from the sectarian 
spirit in which the end justifies the means. 

Once started, the society rapidly increased, al- 
ways hidden, and multiplying precautions not to be 
discovered, since neither clergy nor royalty were 
well disposed towards this mysterious force, from 
which they were constantly receiving shocks with- 
out beingf able to discover whence came the blows. 

It was an occult power, analogous in its extent 
and its intolerance, and even in the ways and means 
employed, to the Free Masonry of the present. 

The Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement had links 



La Grande Mademoiselle 87 

throughout France and in all classes. Anne of 
Austria was included in its sacred band and a 
shoemaker played in it an important role. Vincent 
de Paul enrolled himself in the ranks towards the 
year 1635, contributed to the good, and probably 
was ignorant of the evil to be found in its folds. 
Dating from his affiliation, his charitable works so 
mingled with those of the society that it was no 
longer to be recognised. The society brought to 
the Saint powerful succour, and aided him effect- 
ively in finding the support of which he had need ; 
it would be difficult to say from whom came the 
first idea of many good works. 

As for what at present concerns us, however, the 
point of departure is known. It was neither Vin- 
cent de Paul nor the Compagnie du Saint-Sacre- 
ment which conceived and put in train the prodigious 
work of relieving the Provinces. The first commit- 
tee of relief was founded in Paris, in 1649, ^Y ^ 
Janseniste, M. de Bernieres, who was also respons- 
ible for the invention of the printed " Relations " 
which were informing all France of the miseries to 
be relieved. It was the first time that Charity had 
aided itself through publicity. It soon found the 
value of this. M. de Bernieres and his commit- 
tee, in which the wives of members of Parlia- 
ment dominated, were soon able to commence in 
Picardie and Champagne the distribution of bread, 
clothing, grain, and working implements. Hospi- 
tals were established. They put an end to the 
frightful feeling of desolation of these unfortunate 



88 Louis XIV. and 

populations, pillaged during so many years by mer- 
cenaries of all races and tongues. But the number 
of workers was small even if their zeal was great, 
and the Janseniste community was not equipped for 
a task of this dimension. From the end of the fol- 
lowing year, the direction of the enterprise passed 
entirely into the hands of Vincent de Paul, who led 
with him his army of sisters of charity, his mission 
priests, and an entire contingent of allies, secret but 
absolutely devoted. 

It does not seem as if at first there was any con- 
flict. Mme. de Lamoignon and the Presidente de 
Herse were the right arms of M. Vincent as they 
had been of M. de Bernieres. When the Queen 
of Poland,^ a spiritual daughter of Port-Royal and 
brought up in France, wished to subscribe to the 
work, she sent her money to the Mother Angel- 
ique, telling her to communicate with M. Vincent. 
But this harmony was of short duration. The 
members of what the public were going to baptise 
with the sobriquet of " Cabale des Devots," not be- 
ing able to discover the real name, could not suffer 
the Janseniste concurrence in charitable works. 
They showered upon M. de Bernieres a mass of 
odious calumnies and denunciations which resulted 
in the exile of this good man. 

This was one of the most abominable of the bad 
actions to which a sectarian spirit has pushed 
human beings. 

The " Relations " were continued under the direc- 

' Marie de Gonzague. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 89 

tlon of Vincent de Paul. One knows throuofh 
them and through the documents of the time, the 
details of the task undertaken. The first necessity 
for the public health was the clearing the surface of 
the ground, in the provinces in which there had 
been fighting, of the putrifying bodies, and of the 
filthiness left by the armies. There was one village 
from which such an odour exhaled that no one would 
approach it. A "Relation" of 1652 describes in 
these terms the environs of Paris : 

At Etrechy, the living are mingled with the dead, and the 
country is full of the latter. At Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, 
Crosne, Limay, one hundred and seventy-four ill people were 
found in the last extremity, with neither beds, clothes, nor 
bread. 

It was necessary to commence by taking away the seeds of 
infection which increased the maladies, by interring the 
corpses of men, of dead horses and cattle, and removing the 
heaps of dirt which the armies had left behind. The cleansing 
of the soil was the specialty of M. Vincent and one of his 
most signal benefits. He employed for this work his mission 
priests and his sisters of charity. The missionaries placed 
themselves at the head of the workmen, the sisters sought the 
abandoned sick. Cloth and cap died at need " the arms in the 
hand," said their chief, but their work wts good; and finally 
the work was taken hold of in the right way. 

After the dead the living : 

The cure of Boult ' [reports another " Relation "] assures us 
that he buried three of his parishioners dead from hunger ; oth- 
ers were living only upon cut-up straw mixed with earth, of 
which was composed a food called bread. Five tainted and 

' En Picardie. 



90 Louis XIV. and 

decaying horses were devoured ; an old man aged seventy- 
five years had entered the presbytery to roast a piece of horse- 
flesh, the animal having died of scab fifteen days previously, 
was infected with worms, and had been found cast into a foul 
ditch. ... At Saint-Quentin, in the faubourgs, in which 
the houses had been demolished, the missionaries discovered 
the last inhabitants in miserable huts, " in each of which," 
wrote one of them, " I found one or two sick, in one single 
hut ten ; two widows, each having four children, slept together 
on the ground, having nothing whatever, not even a sheet." 
Another Ecclesiastic, in his visit, having met with many closed 
doors, upon forcing them open discovered that the sick were 
too feeble to open them having eaten nothing during two 
days, and having beneath them only a little half rotten 
straw; the number of these poor was so great that without 
succour from Paris, the citizens under the apprehension of a 
siege, not being able to nourish them, had resolved to cast 
them over the walls. 

Millions were needed to relieve such distress, 
but Vincent de Paul and his associates had a better 
dream ; they wished to put these dying popula- 
tions in a condition to work again and to under- 
take the reparation of the ruins themselves. The 
enterprise was organised In spite of obstacles 
which appeared Insurmountable, the exhaustion of 
France and the difficulty of communication being 
the principal. The Parisians raised enormous 
sums and sent gifts of all kinds of materials, and 
found the means of transporting provisions. The 
committee divided the environs of Paris ; Mme. 
Joly took the care of one village ; the Presidente de 
Nesmond, four villages ; and so on. Missionaries 
were sent outside the boundaries. One of the 



La Grande Mademoiselle 91 

later biographers of Vincent de Paul ^ values at 
twelve millions of francs, at this date worth about 
sixty millions, the sums distributed, without count- 
ing money spent directly for the work of piety nor 
for the support of those engaged in it. However 
this may be, this latter body certainly consumed a 
large portion. The immensity of the enterprise, 
and its apparent boldness, gives us an idea of the 
wealth and power of the middle classes of the 
seventeenth century. After Vincent de Paul and 
M. de Bernieres, the honour for this work of re- 
lief belongs to the parliamentary world and the 
Parisian bourgeosie ; the aristocracy only playing a 
very secondary rdle. The middle classes provided 
for this enormous effort, at a period in which all 
revenues failed at once. We are told that many 
were forced to borrow, that others sold their 
jewels and articles of silver ; still this supposes 
luxury and credit. In one way or another, the citi- 
zen was in a position to give, while the small noble 
of Lorraine or of Beauce was obliged to receive ; 
and this emphasises an historic lesson. Gentlemen 
as well as peasants lacked bread. After remaining 
two days without eating, one is ready to accept 
alms ; at the end of three days, to demand them on 
account of the children. The decadence of the 
one class, the ascension of the other until their 
turn comes ; it has always been the same since the 
world began. 

One last detail, and perhaps the most significant : 

* M. Emanuel de Broglie. 



92 Louis XIV. and 

There is no reference in the Memoirs of the times ^ 
to the principal work of Vincent de Paul. Their 
authors would have made it a matter of conscience 
not to forget a Court intrigue or a scandalous ad- 
venture ; but what can be interesting in people who 
are naked and hungry ? One avoids speaking of 
them. It is even better not to think of them. In 
1652, the year in which poverty was at its height 
in oppressed Paris, the Mother Angelique wrote 
from Port-Royal, to the Queen of Poland (June 
28th): 

With the exception of the few actually engaged in charity, 
the rest of the world live in as much luxury as ever. The 
Court and the Tuileries are as thronged as ever, colla- 
tions and the rest of the superfluities go on as always. Paris 
amuses itself with the same fury as if its streets were not 
filled with frightful spectacles. And, what is more horrible, 
fashion will not suffer the priests to preach penitence (Letter 
of July i2th). 

The lack of pity for the poor was almost general 
among the so-called higher classes. There is no 
need of too carefully inquiring as to what is pass- 
ing in hovels. 

Vincent de Paul and his allies strugro-led six 
years. Not once did the government come to 
their aid, and the war always continued ; for one 
ruin relieved, the armies made ten others. The 

' Saul in ih.e Jourtial desguerres civiles de Dubuisson-Aubenay. He men- 
tions the date of December 2, 1650, upon which " large donations" were 
sent into Champagne, by Mmes. de Lamoignon and de Herse, Messieurs 
de Berni^res, Lenain, etc. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 93 

group of the "good souls" who had made these 
prodigious sacrifices was at length used up, as one 
might say, and was never reinforced, in spite of 
the inexhaustible source of devotion offered by the 
Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement. This body had 
been composed of men and women so excep- 
tional in character, as well as in intelligence, that 
its ranks, emptied by death, and by the exhaustion 
of means and courage, could not be filled up. In 
1655, the receipts of the committee were visibly 
diminished. Two years later, the resources were 
entirely exhausted and the work of relief remained 
unfinished. 

It was well that it was attempted ; a leven 
of good has remained from it in the national 
soul. 

The actual benefits however, were promptly 
effaced ; the famine of 1659 to 1662, especially in 
the latter year, counts amongst the most frightful 
of the century, perhaps in our entire history. The 
excess of material poverty engendered immense 
moral misery, particularly in the large cities, in 
which luxury stood side by side with the most 
frightful conditions, and Paris became both excit- 
able and evil, as always when it suffers. 

The Carnival of 1660 was the most noisy and 
disorderly which old Parisians had ever known. 
Great and small sought amusement with a kind of 
rage, and dissensions and quarrels abounded from 
the top to the bottom of the social scale. Public 
places were noisy with riots and affrays. During 



94 Louis XIV. and 

the nights, masks were masters of the streets, and 
as has been seen above, no security existed with 
these composite crowds, which stole candles from 
the houses into which they had surged. 

One ball alone received in a single evening the 
visit of sixty-five masks, who ran through the city 
three nights in succession. These hysterics in Paris, 
while France was dying with hunger, are so much 
the more striking, inasmuch as the Court was not 
there to communicate to the outer world its eternal 
need of agitation and amusement. Louis XIV. 
spent a large portion of these critical years in jour- 
neying through his kingdom. One of the first 
journeys, lasting from October 27th to the follow- 
ing January 27th, had for its end the meeting of 
the Princess of Savoie at Lyons. There had been 
some question of marrying this Princess to the 
young King. On passing to Dijon, the Court 
stopped more than fifteen days. Mademoiselle 
tells us the reason for this delay ; it is not very 
glorious for royalty. The Parliament of Dijon 
refused to register certain edicts which aggravated 
the burdens of the province. Le Tellier, '* on the 
part of the King," promised that there should be no 
more difficulty if the states of Bourgogne would 
bring their subsidy to a sum which was indicated. 
" Upon which they agreed to what was de- 
manded and presented themselves to account to 
the Kinof." 

Upon the next day, with a cynical contempt for 
the royal promise, "Her Majesty went to the Dijon 



La Grande Mademoiselle 95 

Parliament to register the deeds." ^ Mademoiselle 
had the curiosity to be present at the session. The 
first president did the only thing in his power. 
He courageously expressed his "regrets" and was 
praised by all those who heard him. 

The Court hastily departed the following day, 
leaving Dijon and the entire province " In a certain 
consternation." Mademoiselle blamed only the 
manner of action. At the bottom of her heart, 
she had the belief of her times : that the sovereign 
owed only control to his people, and that there was 
no question of giving them happiness. 

Some weeks after the Incident at Lyons, the 
vicinity of the principality of Dombes ^ gave her 
the desire to visit this place, which she had never 
seen. Dombes did not pay any Impost to the King, 
and this fact alone sufficed to render it prosperous. 
Mademoiselle was scandalised at this prosperity. 
The peasants were well clothed, " they ate meat 
four times a day," and there were "no really poor 
people " In the country ; " also," pursued Made- 
moiselle, " they, up to this time, have paid no 
duties, and It would perhaps be better that they 
should do so, for they are do-nothings, taking no 
interest In either work or trade." 

The people had left everything and dressed 
themselves in their fine clothes to receive Made- 

^ The Parliament of Dijon had a bad reputation with the ministers, who 
accused it of refusing all reform. This does not excuse such a lack of good 
faith. 

* Dombes was a small independent principality which had only been 
definitely united to France on March 28, 17S2 ; its capital was Trevoux. 



96 Louis XIV. and 

moiselle. In order to thank them, Mademoiselle 
drew from them all the money she could. It is 
necessary to recollect, however, that in the eyes of 
the great, even those of the better sort, a peasant 
was hardly a man. It would hardly be worth while 
for us to be indignant at this attitude. We now 
admit that the so-called superior races have the 
right to exploit those considered inferior, and thus 
at need destroy them. It was the habit of our 
fathers to treat a lower class as to-day we treat 
a less advanced race ; the sentiment is precisely 
the same. 

Upon her return from Dombes, Mademoiselle 
found the Court again at Lyons. Every one was all 
eyes and ears for a spectacle which might derange 
the admitted ideas of kings. Marie Mancini was 
trying to make Louis XIV. marry her, and the at- 
tempt had not so absurd an air as might be imagined. 
The Savoie project had failed under painful con- 
ditions, which gave subject of thought to the cour- 
tiers. The King had conducted himself like an 
ill-bred man to the Princess Marguerite. 

People were demanding whether the Spanish 
marriage was also going to fail, and with it the so 
greatly desired peace, because it pleased two lovers, 
one of whom ought not to have forgotten his kingly 
duties, to proclaim the sovereign rights of passion. 
Anne of Austria became uneasy. Mazarin, yield- 
ing to temptation, left the field to his niece, 
who "took possession" of the young King with 
looks and speech. She fascinated him, and he 



La Grande Mademoiselle 97 

swore all that she wished. The contest was not an 
equal one between the passionate Italian and the 
timid and somewhat unformed Louis XIV. 

On his return from Lyons, Louis knelt down 
before his mother and Mazarin, supplicating them 
to permit him to marry the one he loved. He 
found them inflexible. The Queen realised that 
such a mdsalliance would cast disrepute on royalty. 
The Cardinal was torn by conflicting emotions, but 
in the end sent away his niece. 

A second journey lasted more than a year. The 
Court set out on June 29, 1659, and passed through 
Blois. It stopped with Gaston. We owe to the 
Mdmoires of Mademoiselle a last glimpse of this 
Prince, formerly so brilliant, now become a lazy 
good-for-nothing in his provincial life, where no- 
thing of Parisian fashion was found ; neither toi- 
lettes nor cooking, nor household elegance, nor even 
Monsieur himself, who no longer knew how to re- 
ceive, and was vexed that the King should kill his 
pheasants. He permitted it to be seen that he 
was put out, and this became so plain that every 
one was eager to depart, and there was a sudden 
scatteringf. 

The eldest of his daughters by his last marriage, 
Marguerite D'Orleans, had a great reputation for 
beauty. Her parents had for a long time antici- 
pated seeing her Queen of France. 

On the night of the King's arrival at Blois, this 
damsel was disfigured with mosquito bites. Her 
dancing was much extolled, but on this special 



98 Louis XIV. and 

evening, she danced very badly. Gaston had an- 
nounced that this Httle girl of ten " would astonish 
every one with her brilliant conversation." No one 
could draw a single word from her. In short, 
nothing succeeded. Mademoiselle was not espe- 
cially vexed at this failure ; she had trembled at the 
thought of seeing her younger sister " above her," 

Hardly had the Court remounted their carriages, 
before the royal cavalcade, according to the uni- 
versal custom, commenced to mock its hosts. The 
King joked at the sight of his uncle's face on see- 
ing the pheasants fall dead. Mademoiselle laughed 
with the others. She had, however, been moved 
by a tender scene played by her father. 

He had come to awaken her at four o'clock in 
the morning : 

He seated himself on my bed and said: " I believe that you 
will not be vexed at being waked since I shall not soon have 
the chance of again seeing you. You are going to take a long 
journey. I am old, exhausted; I may die during your absence. 
If I do die, I recommend your sisters to you. I know very 
well that you do not love Madame: that her behaviour towards 
you has not been all it should be; but her children have had 
nothing to do with this, for my sake take care of them. They 
will have need of you; as for Madame, she will be of little 
help to them." 

He embraced me three or four times. I received all this 
with much tenderness; for I have a good heart. We separated 
on the best terms, and I went again to sleep. 

Mademoiselle believed that at length they again 
loved each other. Six weeks later a scandal broke 
out at the Court of France, then at Bordeaux. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 99 

The Due de Savoie had refused to marry the 
Princess Marguerite d'Orleans, and Mademoiselle 
was accused of having secretly written to him that 
her sister was a humpback. The accusation came 
from Gaston himself, who said that he had proof of 
it. This was a most disagreeable incident for Made- 
moiselle and further illusion was impossible ; Gas- 
ton was always Gaston, the most dangerous man 
in France. 

From Bordeaux, the Court went to Toulouse ; 
there it was rejoined by Mazarin, who had just 
signed the peace of the Pyrenees (November 7, 

1659)- 

All histories give the articles of this peace. The 

results for Europe have been summed up in some 
brilliant lines written by the great German his- 
torian, Leopold Ranke, who had been struck with 
the advantages which this treaty gave France over 
Germany : 

If it were necessary to characterise in a general fashion the 
results of this peace ... we would say that the import- 
ance of the treaty consisted in the formation and extension of 
the great (geographically) military system of the French mon- 
archy. On all sides, to the Pyrenees, to the Alps, above all, 
to the frontiers of the German Empire and of the Netherlands, 
France acquired new fortified points . . . many positions 
as important for defence as favourable for attack. The posi- 
tion of France upon the upper Rhine, which it owes to the 
peace of Westphalia, received by this new treaty its greatest 
extension.' 

Mazarin found that he had done well in himself 

^ Histoire de France. Tr. by Jacques Porchat and Miot. Paris, 1886. 



loo Louis XIV. and 

following the campaigning armies. He knew the 
military importance of most of the places. The 
Spanish negotiator could not have said as much. 
In the interior, the first comer could easily compre- 
hend the political benefits of a treaty which should 
as far as possible abolish the past. Conde had 
been included in the terms of the peace and re- 
turned to France, well resolved to keep quiet. He 
rejoined the Court at Aix, January 27, 1660, and 
found there was a certain curiosity exhibited as to 
how he would be received. 

Mademoiselle hastened to Anne of Austria : 
" My niece," said the Queen to her, " return to 
your own dwelling ; M. le Prince has especially 
asked that I should be absolutely alone when I 
first receive him," 

I began to smile with vexation, but said: "I am nobody; 
I believe that M. le Prince will be very astonished if he does 
not find me here." The Queen insisted in a very sharp tone; 
I went away resolved to complain to M. le Cardinal; this I 
did on the following day, saying that if such a thing happened 
again, I should leave the Court. He made many excuses. 
This was Mazarin's system. He poured forth explanations 
but in no way changed his methods in the future. 

It is known that M. le Prince demanded pardon 
on his knees, and that he found before him in 
Louis XIV. a judge grave and cold, who held him- 
self "very straight."^ To fight against the King 
was decidedly no more to be considered a joke ; it 

' M/moires de Mofitglat ; Memoir es de Mme. de Motieville. 



La Grande Mademoiselle loi 

could not be overlooked, even if one were the con- 
queror of Rocroy. 

Mademoiselle did not succeed in comprehending 
the real situation. Conde, surprised and deceived, 
felt his way. One evening at a dance, when talking 
with Mademoiselle, the King joined them. The 
conversation fell upon the Fronde. On the part of 
a man of as much esprit as M. le Prince, one can 
well believe that this was not by chance : " The 
war was much spoken of," relates Mademoiselle, 
"and we joked at all the follies of which we had 
been guilty, the King with the best grace in the 
world joining in these pleasantries. Although I 
was suffering with a severe headache, I was not in 
the least bored." Mademoiselle had laughed with- 
out any second thoughts. Conde, clearer sighted, 
trembled during the remainder of his days, before 
this monarch so capable of dissimulation, and so 
perfectly master of himself. 

Almost at the same moment there expired another 
of those belated feudal ideas, which neither royalty 
nor manners could any longer suffer among the 
nobility. Gaston d'Orleans died at Blois, Feb- 
ruary 2nd,^ his death being caused by an attack of 
apoplexy. They had heard him murmur from his 
bed regarding his wife and children, Do7nus mea 
domus desolationis vocabitur (" My house will be 
called the House of Desolation"). He spoke bet- 
ter than he knew. Madame surpassed herself in 

' The ball took place on the 3rd. Several days elapsed before the news of 
the death reached Aix. 



I02 Louis XIV. and 

blunders, and still more. She went to dinner while 
her husband was receiving the last unction, sent 
away the servants of Monsieur immediately after 
the final sigh, locked up everything, and concerned 
herself no more. Her women refused a sheet in 
which to wrap the body ; it was necessary to beg 
one from the ladies of the Court. Some priests 
came to sit up with the dead, but finding neither 
" light nor fire " they returned, and the corpse 
remained alone, more completely abandoned than 
had been that of his brother, the King, Louis XIII. 
The body was borne without " pomp or expense"^ 
to Saint-Denis, and the widow hastened to Paris, to 
take possession of the Palace of the Luxembourg, 
in the absence of Mademoiselle. 

The Court did not take the trouble to feign 
regrets. The King gave the tone in saying to his 
cousin, gaily, after the first formal compliments : 
*' You will see my brother to-morrow in a training 
mantle. I believe that he is delighted at the news 
of your father's death. He believes that he is heir 
to all his belongings and state ; he can talk of 
nothing else ; but he must wait awhile." 

Anne of Austria heard this, and smiled. " It is 
true," pursues Mademoiselle, "that Monsieur ap- 
peared the next day in a wonderful mantle." Ma- 
demoiselle had great difificulty in keeping her own 
countenance. Her grief was, however, very real, 
notwithstanding the past, or rather, perhaps, on 
account of what had gone before ; it was, however, 

' Mimoires of Mademoiselle. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 103 

only an impulse affected by the impression of the 
moment. She exhibited this sorrow a little too 
effectively : 

I wished to wear the most formal and deepest mourning. 
Every one of my household was clad in black, even to the 
cooks, the servants, and the valets; the coverings of the mules, 
all the caparisons of my horses and of the other beasts of 
burden. Nothing could be more beautiful the first time we 
marched than to see this grand train, expressive of grief. It 
had an air very magnificent and of real grandeur. Every- 
body says how much wealth she must possess! 

The mules' mourning is well worth the training 
mantle of the little Monsieur. This magnificent 
funeral pomp had the one inconvenience of re- 
calling to all comers that Mademoiselle must resign 
other pleasures. At the end of some weeks, she 
would have willingly resumed her share in Court 
gaieties ; Anne of Austria kindly commanded her to 
return to life. 

The summer was, however, approaching. The 
Court continued to drag itself from city to city, 
waiting until it should please the King of Spain to 
bring his daughter, and the time seemed long. 
Mazarin shut himself up to work. Louis drilled 
the soldiers of his guard. The Queen Mother spent 
long days in convents. Mademoiselle wrote, or 
worked tapestry. A large number of the courtiers, 
no longer able to stand the ennui, had returned to 
Paris ; those who remained, lived lives of complete 
idleness. The King had at this time a fine occa- 
sion to study the condition of his provinces ; but 



I04 Louis XIV. and 

he did not possess an investigating mind. He 
spent long months in front of the Pyrenees, with- 
out seeking to know anything of their formation, 
showing an unusual indifference to knowledge, even 
for this period. One of the few persons who risked 
themselves in the Pyrenees, Mme. de Motteville, 
relates her astonishment at discovering valleys, tor- 
rents, cultivated fields, and inhabitants. She had 
believed that she should only find a great wall of 
rock, " deserted and untilled." 

The journey went on ; but nature had not yet 
the right of entrance into literature, and society 
spoke but rarely of its charms. Of the vast world, 
only what came directly under the eyes of the indi- 
vidual was known. 

At length, on June 2d (1660), the Court of 
France, "kicking its heels" at Saint-Jean-de-Luz 
during an entire month, received news of the ar- 
rival at Fontarabia of Philip IV. and of the Infanta 
Marie Therese. The next day, the marriage 
ceremonies commenced. 

Six long days and the best intentions on both 
sides were needed to consummate this great affair 
without offending etiquette. The problem pre- 
sented was this : How to marry the King of 
France with the daughter of the King of Spain^ 
without permitting the King of France to put his 
foot on Spanish territory, nor the King of Spain 
on that belonging to France, and at the same time 
not to allow the Infanta to quit her father before 
the ceremony had actually taken place ? 



La Grande Mademoiselle 105 

On the side of the French Court, whose discipline 
left much to be desired, difficulties of detail arose 
constantly to complicate affairs. The little Mon- 
sieur wept for desire to go to Fontarabia to see 
a Spanish ceremony ; but etiquette made it neces- 
sary to consider this brother of the King the pre- 
sent heir presumptive to the crown, and, alleged 
Louis XIV., "the heir presumptive of Spain could 
not enter France to see a ceremony." ^ 

After consideration of this point, the heir was for- 
bidden to pass the frontier. Then Mademoiselle 
arrived, who wished to be of the party. She repre- 
sented that the order was not applicable to her, and 
cited the Salic law which gave her the right to tra- 
verse the Bidassoa : " I do not inherit," said she ; " I 
should have some compensation. Since daughters 
are of no value in France, they should at least be 
permitted to enjoy spectacles." 

Mazarin convoked the ministers to submit this 
argument. The discussion lasted " three or four 
hours." Finally, Mademoiselle gained her cause, 
although the King himself was rather against her. 
The important question of ** trains " gave also some 
embarrassment to the Cardinal. A duke had of- 
fered to bear the train of Mademoiselle in the 
nuptial cortege. Mazarin was obliged to seek two 
other dukes for the younger sisters of Made- 
moiselle, two children whom the lady of honour of 
their mother had led to the marriage. He could 
only find a marquis and a count ; the dukes hid 

* M/moh'es of Mademoiselle. 



io6 Louis XIV. and 

themselves. The lady of honour uttered loud pro- 
tests ; " her Princesses must have ' tail-bearers ' as 
titled as those of their tall sister, or they should 
not go at all." " I will do what I can," replied the 
Cardinal ; " but no one wishes the task." 

Mademoiselle had the good grace to sacrifice her 
duke, and Mazarin believed the affair terminated, 
when the Princess Palatine^ caused a novel inci- 
dent, upon the day of the ceremony, and even 
when the last moment was approaching. She ap- 
peared in the Queen's chamber, wearing a train, to 
which, being a foreign Princess, she had no right. 
La Palatine had counted upon the general con- 
fusion to smuggle herself in and to create a prece- 
dent. It was needful to delay matters. The train 
had been reported to Mademoiselle, and no mar- 
riage should prevent her protest. The Cardinal 
and after him the King were forced to listen to a 
discourse upon the limitations of foreign princesses. 
" I believe," writes Mademoiselle, " that I was very 
eloquent." She proved herself at least very con- 
vincing, for La Palatine received the order to take 
off her train. 

But it is necessary to retrace our steps ; trains have 
carried us too far. The relations between the two 
monarchs had been regulated with a minutia worthy 
of Asiatic courts. They met only in a hall, built ex- 
pressly for the purpose upon the Isle des Faisans, 
and on horseback upon the frontier. The building 
was half in French, half in Spanish territory. The 

' Anne de Gonzague. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 107 

decorations of the two sides were different. Louis 
XIV. must walk upon French carpets, Philip IV. 
upon Spanish ones. The one must only sit upon 
a French chair, write only upon a French table 
with French ink, seek the time only from a French 
clock, placed in his half of the hall ; the other 
guarded himself with the same care from every 
object not Spanish. Two opposite doors gave 
passage at precisely the same instant. An equal 
number of steps led them to the place where the 
red carpet of France joined the gold and silver one 
of Spain ; and the two Kings addressed each other 
and embraced over the frontier. Thus demanded 
the laws of ceremonial monarchy. Their rigour 
commenced to astonish the good people of France. 
The interviews upon the Isle des Faisans became 
legendary. La Fontaine has alluded to them in 
one of his last fables, Les Deux Chhvres^ in which 
he has found no better comparison for the 
solemnity with which the two goats, equally 
" tainted " with their rank, equally curbed, ad- 
vanced towards each other upon the fragile and 
narrow bridge. 

Je m'imagine voir, avec Louis le Grand, 
Philippe quatre qui s'avance 
Dans I'isle de la Conference ' 

Ainsi s'avangaient pas a pas, 

Nez a nez, nos aventurieres, 

' This appeared in 1691. 

' Isle des Faisans was also called Isle de la Conf/rence, since Mazarin had 
there discussed the treaty of the Pyrenees with Luis de Haro. 



io8 Louis XIV. and 

When all was arranged, on June 3rd, neither the 
bride and bridegroom nor their parents having seen 
each other, the King of France, represented by- 
Don Luis de Haro, was married by proxy in the 
church of Fontarabia to the Infanta Marie-Therese. 

This was the expedient which saved the dignity 
of the two crowns. After the ceremony, the new 
Queen returned to her father. She wrote the next 
day a letter of official compliment to her husband. 
We possess the response of Louis XIV., in which 
he has well performed a somewhat difficult task. 

Saint-Jean-de-Luz, June 4, 1660. 

To receive at the same time a letter from your Majesty, 
and the news of the celebration of our marriage, and to be on 
the eve of seeing you, these are assuredly causes of indelible 
joy for me. 

My cousin, the Duke of Crequi, first gentleman of my 
chamber, whom I am sending expressly to your Majesty, will 
communicate to you the sentiments of my heart, in which you 
will remark always increasingly an extreme impatience to 
convey these sentiments in person. 

He will also present to you some trifles on my part. 

The same day, in the afternoon, Anne of Austria 
met for the first time with her brother and niece 
together. The interview took place in the hall 
of the Isle des Faisans, Philip IV. astonished the 
French, decidedly less bound up in tradition than 
the Spanish. Philip dwelt so immobile in his gravity 
that one would have hardly taken him for a living 
man.^ 

' Md7)ioires de Montzlat. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 109 

Anne of Austria wishing to embrace her brother, 
whom she had not seen for forty-five years, he 
decided to make a movement, but it was only " to 
withdraw his head so far that she could not catch 
it." ^ The Queen Mother had forgotten the customs 
of her own land. To embrace in Spain was not to 
kiss ; it only consisted in giving a greeting without 
touching the lips, as we see done at the Comedie 
Frangaise by personages of the classic repertoire. 
Kissing was, as we read in Moliere only permitted 
in certain rare cases. In the Malade Imaginaire^ 
Thomas Diafoirus consults his father before kiss- 
ing his fiancee : ** Shall I kiss her ? " " Yes," replies 
M. Diafoirus. 

The evening of the interview, June 4th, Made- 
moiselle was curious to know whether the King of 
Spain had kissed the Queen Mother. " I asked 
her ; she told me * no ' ; that they had embraced 
according to the fashion of their own country." 

How was this strange fashion established at the 
Court of France, and from there transferred to our 
theatres ? Was it after the marriage of Louis 
XIV. ? I leave to the amateurs of the theatre 
the solving of this little problem in dramatic 
history. 

They brought a French chair for the Queen 
Mother, a Spanish one for Philip IV., and they 
seated themselves nearly "■ upon the line which 
separated the two kingdoms."^ 

Marie-Therese, Infanta of Spain and bride by 

' M^moires de Mnie. de Motteville. ^ Ibid. 



no Louis XIV. and 

proxy of the King of France, was still to be seated. 
Should this be done in France or Spain ? upon a 
Spanish or French chair ? They brought one 
Spanish and two French cushions ; piled them 
upon Spanish territory, and the young Queen 
found herself seated in a mixed fashion, suitable to 
her ambiguous situation. 

Louis XIV. did not accompany his mother. Eti- 
quette did not yet permit the new couple to ad- 
dress a word to each other. It had been arranged 
that the King of France should ride along the 
banks of the Bidassoa and that the Infanta should 
regard him from afar through the window. A 
romantic impatience which seized the husband 
with longing to become acquainted with his wife 
caused this part of the programme to fail. Louis 
XIV. looked at Marie-Therese through a half-open 
door. They regarded each other some seconds, 
and then returned, she to Fontarabia, he to Saint- 
Jean-de-Luz. 

On Sunday, the sixth, they saw each other offi- 
cially at the Isle des Faisans. Affairs were but 
little further advanced; Philip IV. had declared 
that the Infanta must conceal her impressions until 
she arrived on French territory. On the seventh, 
Anne of Austria brought her daughter-in-law to 
Saint-Jean-de-Luz, where the young people could 
at length converse together, awaiting the definite 
celebration of the marriage, which took place June 
9th in the church of Saint-Jean-de-Luz. 

Some days later, the Court retook the road to 



La Grande Mademoiselle iii 

Paris. Marie-Therese made her solemn entrance 
into the capital, August 20th. The procession de- 
parted from Vincennes. " It was necessary to rise 
at four o'clock in the morning," reports Mademoi- 
selle, who had a frightful sick headache. At five 
o'clock, every one was in gala costume, and they 
reached the Louvre at seven in the evening. 
Mademoiselle was at the end of her endurance ; but 
a Princess of the blood had no right to be ill on the 
day of a Queen's entrance. Sometimes ridiculous 
and sometimes ferocious ; such appears ancient 
etiquette to our democratic generation. Monarchs 
formerly felt the value of its services too keenly to 
shrink from submitting to its dictates. They knew 
that a demi-god never descends with impunity 
from his pedestal. It is impossible to witness his 
efforts at remounting without laughter. To-day 
the Princes themselves desire less etiquette. The 
monarchical sentiment is not sufhciently strong to 
make them willing to support the ennui of cere- 
monial ; they are capable of any sacrifice of dignity 
to escape it. We see them resign to others their 
rank and privileges in the hope of finding in obscu- 
rity the happiness which they have missed in the 
King's palace. 

The present lack of form makes it difficult for 
the mass to take royalty seriously, and thus vanish 
together the respect for formal courtesies and for 
aristocracies. Louis XIV. and Philip IV. in spite 
of La Fontaine, were in the right in attaching capi- 
tal importance to the placing their feet upon the 



112 Louis XIV. and 

right carpets. This precision of etiquette prolonged 
the existence of the monarchy. 

Life retook its habitual course in the Palace of 
the Louvre. The King was studying a new ballet. 
Very few persons remarked that he found time also 
to make long visits upon Mazarin. The Cardinal, 
feeling himself in the clutches of death, was pre- 
paring his pupil for his "great trade " of sovereign. 
He made him acquainted with affairs, spoke to 
him in confidence of the people connected with the 
administration of the kingdom ; discussed political 
questions, and recommended him to have no longer 
a first minister.^ The one thinof which he could not 
yet resolve to do was to permit the King to give a 
direct order. His dying hands would not let fall a 
half-crown or relax an atom of authority. 

The young Queen was astonished at the money 
restrictions which had oppressed her since her so- 
journ in France ; Mazarin supervised her household 
through the intermediary of Colbert, " who saved 
upon everything," ^ and he (Mazarin) pocketed the 
savings. On New Year's day, he absorbed for him- 
self three-fourths of the gifts of Marie-Therese 
The Queen Mother having shown some discontent, 
" the poor Monsieur the Cardinal," as she called 
him, cried out boldly, " Alas ! if she knew from 
whence comes this money and that it is the blood 
of the people, she would not be so liberal." 

' There exists in the Archives d'' Affaires dtranglres a fragment of the 
instructions of Mazarin to Louis XIV., written under the dictation of the 
King. M. Chantelauze, who discovered it, published it in the Correspondant 
of August lo, 1881. * Motteville. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 113 

In vain Mazarin hastened ; he did not have time 
to finish his task. February 11, 1 66 1 , the King, real- 
ising that his minister was lost, began to weep and 
to say that he did not know what he should do. All 
France experienced the same fears. It did not 
occur to any that the King was capable of govern- 
ing, or that he would take the trouble to do so. 
The doubt was only as to the name of the one 
who should take the helm in place of the Cardinal. 
Anne of Austria believed in chance ; Conde had one 
party amongst the nobility. The Parisian bour- 
geoisie said to itself that Retz was perhaps going 
to return from over sea " for necessity." ^ The 
ministers admitted that there was only one man 
fitted for the position. 

While these various intrigues were progressing, 
Mazarin expired (March 6th), and some hours later 
there came that coup de thddtre of which one reads 
in all histories. Louis XIV. signified to his minis- 
ters and grandees his intention of himself governing. 
Those who knew him well, beginning with his own 
mother, did nothing but laugh, persuaded that it was 
only a fire of straw. Louis at first shut himself 
up entirely alone during two hours, in order to 
establish a " rule of life " ^ as an effective monarch. 
The programme resulting from this meditation sur- 
prisingly resembles the one given by Catherine de 
Medicis in the letter already cited. It exacts the 
qualities of a great worker. From that day, Louis 
showed these qualities. " For above all," says he in 

' Guy Patin. Letter of January 2S, 1661. ^Motteville. 



IJ4 Louis XIV. and 

his Mdmoires, " I resolved not to have a first min- 
ister, and not to permit to be filled by another the 
functions belonging to the King, as long as I bear 
the title." 

The passage in which he describes his " wedding " 
with the joy of work is moving and beautiful. It 
is even poetical. 

I felt immediately my spirit and courage elevated. I 
found myself a different individual. I discovered in myself a 
mind which I did not know existed, and I reproached myself 
for having so long ignored this joy. The timidity which 
judgment at first gave caused me pain, above all when it was 
necessary to speak in public a little lengthily. This timidity, 
however, was dissipated little by little. 

At length it seemed to me I was really King and born to rule. 
I experienced a sense of well-being difficult to express. 

Louis would now have need of all his courage. 
In measure as his mind became "elevated," shame 
for his gfross ignorance overcame him. " When 
reason," says he, " commences to become solid, one 
feels a cutting and just chagrin in finding oneself 
ignorant of what all others know." 

The practical utility of his neglected studies was 
realised by him. Not to know history with his 
"trade" was a difficulty felt every instant. Not 
to be capable of deciphering alone a Latin letter 
when Rome and the Empire wrote their dispatches 
only in Latin, was an insupportable slavery to others. 
Never to have read anything upon the " art of 
war " when the ambition was aroused to become an 
expert in this art and to acquire glory through it, 



La Grande Mademoiselle 115 

"was to put brakes on one's own wheels." The 
young King's education must be remade ; the only 
difficulty was the finding sufficient leisure. He 
would not allow himself to be hindered by other 
difficulties, of which the principal one was the 
danger of hazarding the newly acquired authority 
by returning to the schoolroom. 

Louis XIV. braved public opinion with remark- 
able courage. This is one of the finest periods of 
his life. He proved himself truly great by his 
sentiment of professional duty, and by his empire 
over himself, the day upon which he dared to say 
to himself as the bourgeois gentleman of Moliere 
was forced to say, knowing well the ridicule to 
which he was exposed : " I wish . . . to be 
able to reason among intelligent people." 

In order to do him full justice, it is necessary to 
remember the foolish effect at that date produced 
by a scholar of twenty-three.^ Classes were then 
finished at fifteen or sixteen, and the memory of 
them was inseparably connected with birch rods, 
without whose aid there was no teaching in the 
seventeenth century. When it was known that the 
King was again taking Latin lessons from his 
ancient preceptor, and that he passed hours in writ- 
ing themes, the courtiers might easily have had it 
upon the end of their tongues to demand as Mme. 
Jourdain of M. Jourdain : "Are you at your age 
going to college to be whipped ? " 

' He was even twenty-four when he asked Perefixc again to give him 
Latin lessons. 



ii6 Louis XIV. and 

He did not console himself with the Illusion that 
his rank would save him from such railleries. He 
confesses a propos of history, which he wished to 
study again, how keenly sensitive he was to the 
thought of what might be said. " One single scru- 
ple embarrassed me, which was, that I had a cer- 
tain shame, considering my position In the world, of 
redescending Into an occupation to which I should 
earlier have devoted myself." Everything had 
yielded to the desire " not to be deprived of the 
knowledge that every worthy man should have." 

In spite of these efforts, Louis was never edu- 
cated ; he never knew Latin, which was deemed 
the real knowledge of the seventeenth century. In 
which century the language was well taught. Too 
much business or too many pleasures prevented 
the young King from pursuing his design during a 
sufficiently long period. It Is possible, also, that 
his lack of natural facility may have discouraged 
him. Louis XIV. had memory and judgment, but 
his Intelligence was slow. In short, he abandoned 
his studies too soon ; he felt, and repeated till the 
day of his death the confession, " I am Ignorant." 

But Louis never relaxed the labours belonging 
to him as chief of the State. His days were regu- 
lated once for all. Mme. de Mottevllle tells the 
arrangement the day following the death of Ma- 
zarin. Saint-Simon gives It again a half-century 
later, and It Is identical. Apart from extraordinary 
and unexpected business, and formal functions, so 
numerous and Important at this epoch, the King 



La Grande Mademoiselle 117 

regularly devoted six to eight hours daily to ordinary 
business. Add to these hours the time for sleeping 
and eating, for seeing his family and taking the 
fresh air, and but little time would have been left 
for diversion if the King had not had the capacity 
of doing without sleep almost at will. It was this 
physical gift which permitted him to provide as 
largely for pleasure as for work. Nevertheless, the 
Court had trouble in adapting itself to the new 
regime. It did not know what to do while the 
King worked. 

" It is more wearisome here than can be imagined," 
wrote the Due d'Enghien, son of the great Conde, 
in 1664. "The King is shut up almost the en- 
tire afternoon."^ Outside the Court, the people 
could have cried with joy. It had been a delight- 
ful surprise to discover a great worker in this ballet 
dancer. Paris was ready to permit him to indulge 
in his little weaknesses, provided that he would 
govern, that he himself would use his power. The 
bourgeoisie Frondeuse was disarmed. 

. It is necessary [wrote Guy Patin to a friend] that I 
should share with you a thought which I find very amusing. 
M. de Vendome has said that our good King resembles a 
young doctor who has much ardour for his profession, but who 
demands some quid pro quo. I know those who see him intim- 
ately, who have assured me that he has very good intentions 
and, that as soon as he is completely the master, he will persuade 
all the world of them. Amen. * 

' Letter of June 27th to the Queen of Poland {Archives de Chantilly). 
The King dined at one o'clock. 
^ Letter of July 15, 1661. 



ii8 Louis XIV. and 

The italicised words are significant of the 
opinion of Guy Patin. In estabHshing absolute 
monarchy, Louis XIV. had the good wishes of all. 
Other testimony quite as remarkable exists to con- 
firm this statement. After the death of Mazarin, 
Olivier d' Ormesson, who had been of the opposition 
party in the Parliament, and whose independence 
would soon cost him his career, let three entire years 
roll by before admitting any statement in his journal 
to the detriment of the King. This writer also 
believes in Louis, and, on the whole, approves of 
the compensations {quid pro quo) demanded by 
the governing novice. 

After the first astonishment, the sudden change 
in Louis's methods provoked but few commentaries 
in the immediate surroundings of the King. Anne 
of Austria had a fit of vexation in realising that she 
would never again have any influence ; after which, 
indolence aiding, her course was taken. The Queen 
Mother had no objection on principle to absolute 
monarchy : she had always favoured it. She could 
not, as a Spanish Princess, conceive of royalty being 
the least limited. Once resigned to the new situa- 
tion, she became a truly maternal old Queen, who 
preached virtue to youth, and endeavoured to lighten 
the monotony of her daughter-in-law's life. 

Marie - Th^rese had only one single political 
opinion ; good government was that under which 
a king could pass much time with his wife. This 
poor little wife died without having ever really 
lived with her husband. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 119 

Mademoiselle had no reason to regret the first 
ministers ; there had been too little reason to 
enjoy the two with whom she had had inter- 
course. She imagined herself liberated from all 
dependence through the death of the Cardinal, 
succeeding that of her father, and this thought was 
most agreeable to her. She did not perceive that 
she had only changed masters, and that the new 
one would prove himself infinitely more difficult to 
please, more exacting, than that sceptical Italian 
who confined himself to watching that she did 
not carry away her millions to strangers and who 
simply mocked at everything else. 

Mademoiselle finally passed through the state of 
apprenticeship to absolute monarchy. Her eyes 
were opened only on the day on which the thunder 
cloud burst upon her. 



CHAPTER III 

Mademoiselle at the Luxembourg — Her Salon — The " Anatomies" of the 
Heart — Projects of Marriage, and New Exile — Louis XIV, and the 
Libertines — Fragility of Fortune in Land — Fetes Galantes. 

WITH the approach of her thirty-fifth year, the 
Grande Mademoiselle perceived by diverse 
signs that she was no longer young. She was 
forced to recognise that her strength had its 
limitations, which fact had never before been 
forced upon her. On February 7, 1662, Louis 
XIV. danced for the first time a grand ballet en- 
titled the " Amours of Hercules," and his cousin 
of Montpensier took part. She was ill from 
fatigue. Another kind of weariness overcame her ; 
she became bored with fetes. She had been present 
at so many gala occasions since her entrance into 
the world, and had seen so many festivals and fire- 
works, garlands of flowers and allegorical chariots, 
that she was now quickly satiated. 

The King still loved this kind of abundant pleas- 
ure ; those which he offered to his Court sometimes 
lasted successive days and nights, without giving 
time to breathe, and all being expected to feel con- 
tinued amusement. Mademoiselle was no longer 
capable of this. She was beginning to long for the 
repose of home. Her sick headaches contributed 



Louis XIV. and La Grande Mademoiselle 1 2 1 

to this disability ; age had increased them, and all 
women know that it is better to suffer a headache 
in solitude. After a lively struggle, she had returned 
to the palace of the Luxembourg and was lodg- 
ing under the same roof as her stepmother. The 
old Madame would have gladly relinquished a 
neighbour vx^hose presence presaged nothing good, 
but no one had sustained the contention as no one 
was in the least interested in her welfare. One 
reads in a fugitive leaf of the times issued on July 
21, 1660: " This affair was deliberated upon in the 
Court, and it was found that Mademoiselle had the 
right to demand one of the apartments free, and 
that Madame could not refuse it." It is said that 
the King wrote to Madame in order to soften the 
blow ; it was necessary to drain the bitter cup to 
the dregs, and at a time in which Madame had great 
need of tranquillity to install at her very door this 
tempestuous stepdaughter, with whom no peace 
was possible. 

Madame had " vapours," otherwise called a 
nervous malady. She was afraid of noise, of 
movement, and of being forced to speak, and 
Mademoiselle insisted upon making " scenes." " I 
teased her often," says the Princess in her Memoires, 
" and very much despised her (in which I was 
wrong), and she always responded as one who 
feared me, and with much submission." The pub- 
lic did not consider it worth while to waste pity 
upon Madame, because she bored every one ; a 
fault never pardoned. Anne of Austria, herself a 



122 Louis XIV. and 

very amiable woman, when not opposed, could never 
suffer her inoffensive sister-in-law. The Queen 
Mother said to Mademoiselle, who did not need this 
encouragement : " Her person, her temper, and her 
manners are odious to me." The public was funda- 
mentally right in its antipathy. Madame was one 
of those people who render virtue hateful, and in 
thus doing are very injurious to humanity. 

The Luxembourg was commodious and gay. 
Mademoiselle enjoyed it, and it pleased her to ar- 
range for herself a grand existence as a Princess, 
rich and independent. Nothing could be more dis- 
pleasing to the Court. As soon as Louis XIV. had 
assumed full power, he let it be seen that he wished 
no social centre in his kingdom other than his own 
palace. His cousin did not take this fact into ac- 
count. This was not bravado. It was due to the 
impossibility of comprehending that " a person of 
her quality " could be reduced to the role of satellite. 

It is certain that nature had not prepared her for 
this role. " I would rather pass my life in soli- 
tude," wrote she, " than restrain in any way my 
proud humour, even at the expense of my fortune. 
I have no complaisance, and I demand a great deal 
from others." ^ She also adds : " I do not willingly 
praise others and very rarely blame myself." With 
this avowed disposition, it would perhaps have been 
wiser not to go too often to the Louvre. It was a 

' ^' Portrait de Mademoiselle fait par elle-7>ie??te" {l:iov., 1657) in La Galerie 
des Portraits de Mademoiselle de Montpensier, edited by Eduard de Bar- 
thelemy (Paris, i860). 



La Grande Mademoiselle 123 

great imprudence to attract the crowd to herself as 
she had done at the time in which she was openly 
opposing the Tuileries. 

The salon of Mademoiselle became the first in 
Paris, the most interesting and select. Since Paris 
had tasted the pleasures of clever conversation and 
discovered, under the direction of Mme. de Ram- 
bouillet, the genius of this delicate art, it could not 
do without it. The initiator was still living, but 
she was old and ill, and her circle had long been 
dispersed/ 

Mile, de Scud^ry had collected together as many 
of the remnants of her first salon as she could, and 
had thus laid the foundation for the famous Satur- 
days, at which wit and knowledge were dispensed 
in abundance. Nevertheless, it was not the same. 
The Saturdays of " Sapho " brought back the liter- 
ary people to the pedantry from which Mme. de 
Rambouillet had more or less delivered them. 
They were left too much to themselves, and, thus 
isolated, they had lost a certain intellectual grace 
acquired by the friction between the aristocrats and 
the blue-stockings. 

The mind as well as the body has its own manners, 
and they may be bad or good. In 1661, the Court 
alone had breeding. There existed no other so- 
ciety in which the first comer understood how to 
speak a language easy and galant, well adapted to 
plumed hats and elegant bows. These belonged 

' Mme. de Rambouillet died very aged in 1665. Her influence ended in 
1650. 



124 Louis XIV. and 

to the traditions of the place. Such courtesies were 
lacking with the learned friends of Mile, de Scudery, 
who no longer felt themselves spurred on by the 
fine gentlemen, so alert, capable of such light rail- 
leries, and detesting pedants. 

The feminine society of the Saturdays had also 
too little intercourse with duchesses and marquises 
to replace the H6tel Rambouillet. Mile. Bocquet, 
..who filled a large place in the chronicles of the 
Saturdays, was very amiable and played the lute 
" marvellously," ^ but she belonged to the small 
bourgeoisie. Mile. Dupre, another intimate, was 
an intelligent and educated girl, who had made a 
special study of philosophy. She quoted Descartes 
too often to have " the 2Xr galanf" in conversation. 
As much could be said of others. Mile, de Scudery 
herself, who had been received in the best company 
and who had formally combated the " Blue-stocking- 
ism" with admirable good sense, had not written 
thirty-two octavo volumes with impunity. There 
still remained a little ink on the end of her finofers. 
It seemed as if all the pedants of France held 
their classes in her house. Plays upon words filled 
the papers scattered about, upon which " Prosecu- 
tions " were held. The " Illustrious Sapho " had 
truly inspired Moliere when he wrote Les Pricieuses 
Ridicules ; in vain, M. Cousin refuses to believe it.^ 
I do not myself think that she escaped. 

' Le Grand Cyrus. The greater part of the friends of Mile, de Scudery 
are given assumed names. Mile. Bocquet is called Agelaste. 
* Cf . La Society fraiifaise an XVII'. sQcle, vol, ii., ch. xv. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 125 

Mademoiselle rendered to the wits of the day the 
service of sending them back to the Court for les- 
sons in language and manners. We are well in- 
formed of this, thanks to the fantasy of a Princess 
which produced a little literature upon the model 
offered by the Luxembourg. 

In 1657, Mademoiselle, being at Champigny for 
the Richelieu lawsuit, the Princess of Tarente^ and 
Mile, de la Tremouille^ showed her their literary 
portraits written by themselves.^ These were imita- 
tions of those which Mile, de Scudery, creator of the 
kind, gave in her romances, — the personalities to 
be divined with a key. " I had never before seen 
anything of the kind ; I found them very galants, 
and wrote my own." After her own, she made 
others, and exacted them from those about her. 

From this resulted a repertoire unique of its 
kind, in which noble personages, of both sexes and 
all ages, have been so obliging as not to leave us 
ignorant of themselves, from the state of their teeth 
to their opinions upon love, nor have they omitted 
to present similar details concerning their friends. 

The collection of these Portraits^ reveals to us 
how the aristocracy then viewed itself, or, at least, 
how it wished to be estimated by others. The ordi- 
nary beginning was to picture the face and bearing. 

' This is the friend of Mme. de Sevigne. 

* Sister-in-law of the preceding. She married, in 1662, Bernard, Duke 
of Saxe-Jena.. 

^Mademoiselle says in her M/moires that they "had them written. 
This is an error. 

* La Galerie des Portraits. 



126 Louis XIV. and 

The fashion was to do this with sincerity, which 
by no means indicates modesty. The famous 
Duchesse de Chatillon warned readers that she was 
going to speak with a naivete " the greatest pos- 
sible." 

This is why [continues she] I can say that I have the 
most beautiful and best formed figure which has ever been 
seen. There is none so regular, so free, so easy. My bearing 
is entirely agreeable, and in all my actions I have an air in- 
finitely spirituel. My face is a most perfect oval, according to 
all standards; my forehead is slightly elevated, which aids the 
regularity of the oval. My eyes are brown, very brilliant, and 
very deeply set; the gaze is very gentle and, at the same time, 
full of fire and spirit. I have a well-made nose, and as for 
the mouth, it is not only fine and well coloured, but infinitely 
agreeable, made so by a thousand little natural expressions not 
to be seen in any other mouths. My teeth are very beautiful 
and regular. I have a very small chin. I have not a very 
white skin. My hair is a clear chestnut, and very lustrous. 
My neck is more beautiful than ugly. As for my arms and 
hands, I am not proud of them; but the skin is very soft and 
smooth. It would be impossible to find a thigh better made 
than mine or a foot better turned. 

The description of the physique was a rule of 
the Portraits, not even the religieuses believing 
that it should be dispensed with. 

Among the Portraits is found one of an Abbess 
who visited Mademoiselle, the inspiring Marie- 
Eleonore de Rohan, a person much esteemed on 
account of her mother, the famous Duchesse de 
Montbazon, but very disconcerting, notwithstand- 
ing, for our modern ideals of monastic life. 

She divided herself between the cloister and the 



La Grande Mademoiselle 127 

world, sufficiendy edifying when it was needful, 
lively and brilliant the remainder of the time, and 
as natural in the one role as in the other. The 
Abbess composed works of piety for her nuns,— 
among others La Morale de Salomon, many times 
re-edited, and the Paraphrases des sept Psatimes de 
la Penitence. The lady of society placed herself 
before her mirror and wrote without a shade of 
embarrassment : " I have some haughtiness in my 
physiognomy and some modesty. I have too large 
a nose, a mouth not disagreeable, lips suitable, and 
teeth neither beautiful nor ugly." This " nose too 
large " shocked the savant Huet. In reproducing 
the portrait of Mme. I'Abbesse, he wrote : " As the 
beauty of the nose is one to which I am very sensi- 
tive, permit, Madame, that I should begin with 
yours. It is large ; it is white, slightly aquiline, 
and gives something spirituel to your smile." 

Another phrase of Huet's gives us a vision of 
how these pseudo-religieuses, whose species was 
destined to disappear with the reform of convents, 
a not regrettable fact, accommodated the convent 
garb with coquetry : "■ One cannot imagine," pur- 
sued the future bishop, " more beautiful hair than 
yours ; it is ash colour, blond, curls in a very agree- 
able manner, and admirably suits your face, as far as 
I have been able to judge, when it has escaped by 
chance, in spite of your care to conceal it." 

After the body comes the temper, tastes, quali- 
ties, and defects of the mind. Here lies the lasting 
interest of the Portraits. It is valuable to know 



128 Louis XIV. and 

from first hand, through its own confidences, that 
this aristocratic society, from which the King ex- 
acted the complete sacrifice of its independence, 
hated nothing more than restraint, and did not hesi- 
tate to say so. Men and women, speaking for them- 
selves, return constantly to this point, and always 
in the same terms : " I hate restraint. Restraint 
is insupportable to me." " I have an aversion for 
all that is called restraint." " I suffer oppression 
impatiently and I passionately love liberty." 

From the point of view of absolute monarchy and 
the discipline which it wished to impose upon the 
Court, the French nobility had very bad habits. 
This nobility professed love of the chivalric virtues, 
and hatred of anything resembling baseness or dis- 
loyalty. In this, it was sincere, only we must admit 
that opinions are constantly changing even in rela- 
tion to morals, and that to-day, we might have diffi- 
culty in agreeing with a gentleman of 1660 as to 
what is loyal or base and what is not. Honour 
commanded the gentleman to avenge offences 
against himself without too closely examining into 
the methods of so doing. Custom authorised him 
to be unjust and to act with bad faith towards the 
lowly, common, and feeble, in particular when 
money was owed. Honesty was a bourgeois virtue. 
Mademoiselle considered it unworthy that people 
of quality should abuse their authority to " ruin 
miserable creditors," but she was an exception. 

The obliorations of "honour" were extending to 
all conditions. Vatel was praised for having killed 



La Grande Mademoiselle 129 

himself because the fish did not rise. " It was 
said," wrote Mme. de Sevigne, " that this sort of 
honour was a strength." 

It was not the same with another sentiment 
which filled the plays of Corneille and which is 
constantly referred to in all the writings of the 
time. General consent reserved for people of 
quality the privilege of having ideas of " Glory and 
of the * Beautiful ' or the True," which led, accord- 
ing to Huet's definition, to the desire for grand 
things. The desire for " true glory," which is care- 
fully distinguished from what he called the " halo 
of glory," was the aristocratic sentiment "par ex- 
cellence." Even among the authors of the Portraits, 
every one was not considered to possess the high 
capacity for strongly feeling this longing. 

In spite of the prevailing licentiousness of the 
Court, there still remained in this brilliant society 
many pure women. At the same time, virtue was 
not particularly honoured. It was a matter of per- 
sonal taste, the nobility only attaching a secondary 
and conventional importance to its practice. The ■ 
women " pure," or those who were supposed so to 
be, received praise from friendly pens. The others 
were not looked at askance, except by the Jansen- 
ists and other sombre spirits. 

The young Comtesse de Fiesque, with whom 
Mademoiselle had been embroiled at Saint-Far- 
geau, had a well-established reputation for gal- 
lantry. The anonymous author of her Portrait 
makes allusion to this, and hastens to add, ** Truly 



I30 Louis XIV. and 

this does her no harm." No harm at all ! Made- 
moiselle did not think of it when Mme. de Fiesque 
came to demand pardon for her impertinences : 
" She threw herself on her knees before me ; I 
raised her up and embraced her ; she wept with 
joy. She is a v^orthy woman, only too easily led 
away, but good at heart." 

Naturally men spoke very freely of women ; it 
was like the crowing of cocks. An anonymous 
writer, who might have been the poet Racan,^ re- 
presents himself as " very ugly, very stammering, 
and very disagreeable, very grumbling besides and 
untruthful," and goes on, " I am very bold with 
women and quite as successful as if I were good- 
looking and possessed the most agreeable qualities 
in the world to make myself well received. I have 
indeed found myself sometimes as you see me 

. ." There is still greater contempt expressed 
for women in the following passage from the Por- 
trait of La Rochefoucauld by himself : " Formerly 
I was a little galant ; now not at all, although still 
youthful. I have renounced all flirtations. I am 
only astonished that there should still be so many 
worthy people who occupy themselves in culling 
these ' little flowers.' " Considering Mme. de 
Longueville, this statement is rather hard. I 
would remark in passing, that La Rochefoucauld 
was forty-five^ at the moment in which he found 

' M. de Barthelemy, editor of the Galerie des Portraits, called Honorat 
de Bueil, marquis de Racan ; born in 15S9, died in 1670. 

" Or forty-six, depending upon the date of the Portrait, 165S or 1659. 




FRANCOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD 
From the engraving by Hopwood after the painting by Petitot 



La Grande Mademoiselle 131 

himself somewhat " young to renounce flirtations." 
Moliere, however, was soon to make all Paris laugh 
at the expense of Arnolphe,^ who indulged in love 
affairs at the age of forty-two. Shall we conclude 
that Moliere attempted to lessen the limit of the 
age of love, or was it only in the theatre that fashion 
exacted young lovers ? I leave this question to the 
clever. It is not without importance in the history 
of sentiments. 

The fashion of Portraits lasted but little more 
than two years with those who were its sponsors ; 
as soon as the custom reached the bourgeoisie, the 
people of quality abandoned it. The very lively 
taste developed in the middle class, in their turn, 
for this diversion proved of real service to liter- 
ature. The imitators of the " Galerie " learned, as 
previously the creators of the game had done, to 
know the " interior of people." ^ " The anatomies " 
of their own hearts, imperfect as they were, habitu- 
ated them to discern the "qualities and temper of 
people," ^ and thus a large pubHc was prepared to 
comprehend the women of Racine. 

Mademoiselle was one of the first to profit by the 
"soul studies" which she had brought into favour. 
There remains a little passage in a portion of 
her M^mozres, written after 1660, which clearly 
indicates this. Progress is equally marked in a 

' L'Ecole des Fetnmes was issued in 1662. 

^ The expression is from the beautiful Marquise de Mauny, who formed 
part of the little Court of Saint-Fargeau. 

^ From Mme. de Sainctot, wife of the master of ceremonies and intro- 
ducer of ambassadors under Louis XIV. She was a friend of Voiture. 



132 Louis XIV. and 

little romance with a key, entitled Histoire de la. 
Princesse de Paphlagonie, which was composed and 
printed at Bordeaux in 1659, during the prolonged 
sojourn of the Court at that place. 

This is not the only imaginative work for which 
this facile pen ^ is responsible, but it is the only one 
worthy of notice. The subject is without interest ; 
Mademoiselle has incorporated in a literary tale the 
absurd quarrels of her household : " I made a little 
history which was finished in three days, by writing 
in the evening after returning from the Queen." 
In compensation, there are in the Princesse de 
Paphlagonie some sketches after nature, written 
with a firm and live touch, a novelty with Mademoi- 
selle. A passage upon the blue room of Mme. de 
Rambouillet will prove a great aid in any attempt 
to reconstruct an elegfant interior under Louis 
XIV., if the experiment should ever be made as 
has been suggested of playing the comedies of 
Moliere in the true "chamber" of Philaminte or 
of Celimene. Others have spoken of the rooms in 
which Mme. de Rambouillet received. The har- 
monious decoration and the scholarly disorder have 
been before described, yet no one but Mademoiselle 
has given us the intimate atmosphere of the sanctu- 
ary, with its measured and discreet light, its luxury 
of flowers, its objects of art, and its small but choice 
library betraying the tastes and the preferences of 

' The others are, Vie de Madame de Fouquerolles , supposed autobiography 
of a lady mixed up with Fronde intrigues (MS. exists in the library of the 
Arsenal), and La Relation de V He imaginaire (1658), badinage upon an 
episode in Don Qtdxote. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 133 

the divinity of the place. The description resembles 
more nearly the salon of an intelligent woman of 
the twentieth century than a suite of the Chateau 
of Versailles. 

The guests of Mademoiselle profited also by the 
refinement of her tastes. She enforced one single 
rule in her salon : cards were banished. No one 
was exposed to the danger of being ruined, as was 
the case in the circle of the King, who encouraged 
heavy play. It did not displease Louis XIV. to be 
the Providence of the losers, this again being a 
method of keeping his nobles in hand. His cousin 
in no way shared in such considerations. She said : 
" I hate to play cards," and only played when it was 
impossible to avoid doing so. She did not at all 
like to lose. It was remarked that the Luxem- 
bourg had gained in gaiety with the exclusion of 
gambling games. " There is a hundred times as 
much laughter," relates the Abbe de Choisy,^ at 
this date very young and a frequent guest at the 
palace of the Luxembourg, where he met numerous 
companions of his own age. 

The three daughters of the old Madame, Miles. 
d'Orleans, d'Alen9on, and de Valois," were always 
with their step-sister. They escaped from their 
deserted apartment to run towards the noise and 
movement ; their life was too sad with Madame and 

' M/moires. Fran^ois-Timoleon de Choisy was born in 1644. There is 
some question as to who was his mother. 

^ Marguerite Louise d'Orleans was born July 28, 1645; Elisabeth, called 
Mile d'Alen^on, December 26, 1646 ; Fran^oise-Madeleine, called Mile, de 
Valois, October 13, 1648. 



134 Louis XIV. and 

her eternal "vapours." Relegated to their cham- 
bers as at Blois, with some childish companions, 
among whom was Louise de La Valliere/ still un- 
known, they lived in a state of distrust of their 
almost invisible mother, who never addressed a 
word to them except in scolding. 

At least, with Mademoiselle one had the right to 
move. Young people had great freedom. Little 
games were organised. Parties of hide and seek 
and blind-man's-buff were enjoyed. " As I had 
violin players, it was easy to dance in any room 
sufficiently distant from Madame." The Abbe de 
Choisy adds a gracious detail : " There were violin- 
ists, but ordinarily they were silent and we danced 
to singing. It is so charming to dance to the 
sound of the voice." While the young moved 
gaily about, their elders had also their little 
games. 

Everything yielded, however, to the unequalled 
pleasure of conversation. Among those who 
gave eclat to the Luxembourg, the names of La 
Rochefoucauld, Segrais, Mme. de Lafayette, and 
Mme. de Sevigne may be mentioned. Mademoi- 
selle herself often led the conversation, beating the 
drums a little, her fashion In everything, but also 
with a certain spontaneity which she always 
displayed. 

Conversation was, during more than a century, 

' Born at Tours in 1644. Her father, Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc, 
Seigneur de La Valliere, dying in 1654, her mother remarried Jacques de 
Courtavel, marquis de Saint-Remi, maitre d'hotel de Gaston d'Orleans. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 135 

even to the time of the Revolution, to be the great 
delight of intelligent France, and this pleasure ren- 
dered incomparable service to the French language, 
which had rather deteriorated during the first 
periods of the seventeenth century. It was imme- 
diately perceived that the worst fault for a talker 
was to speak like a book, and the French owe to 
this simple observation the lesson which taught 
them to become the first in the world for vivacity 
and naturalness in the art of conversation. The 
habitues of the Luxembourg only regretted that 
the conversation did not oftener turn upon love. 
But, in this respect. Mademoiselle was not as com- 
plaisant as at Saint-Fargeau. We have seen that, 
in practice, she closed her eyes ; this simplified life. 
For her own pleasure, she preferred other topics ; 
this particular one became at length insupportable 
to her. " I am much criticised," says she in her Por- 
trait, " because the verses I like the least, are those 
which are passionate, for I have not a tender soul." 
Besides, she had really nothing more to say upon 
the subject of love. She had just made her pro- 
fession of faith in a correspondence with Mme. de 
Motteville, who, while awaiting something better, 
circulated a manuscript in which one reads, " Its 
conditions are shameful ; it is robbery and unjust, 
without faith and without equity. It is an impiety ; 
it mocks the holy sacrament. Marriage adjusts 
nothing : everything is given to man." 

" Let us escape from slavery," cried Mademoi- 
selle. " Let there be at least one corner of the 



136 Louis XIV. and 

globe in which one can say that women are their 
own mistresses." Every one has the right to de- 
spise love and marriage, provided only that one 
does not insist on applying this sentiment only to 
others. The youth of the Luxembourg knew too 
well that Mademoiselle sought with an increasing 
ardour that '* slavery " against which in conversa- 
tion or in writing she called her sex to revolt. Her 
intimate friends realised that she was inventing 
illusions, under the influence of a possible posses- 
sion which induced a belief in their reality. She 
had believed in an eager tenderness on the part of 
the little Monsieur who had married some one else. 
After the restoration of the Stuarts (April, 1660), 
she imagined (the recital is fully given in her 
Mdmoires) that the King, Charles II., whom she had 
refused with disdain when he was only a poor pre- 
tender, had no other intention in remounting the 
throne than again to demand her hand, and that 
she would nobly respond : " I do not deserve this, 
having rejected your suit when you were in disgrace. 
The remembrance of this would always rest on our 
two hearts and would prevent true happiness.'' 
This fine response has been quoted a hundred 
times. Unfortunately, it is very clearly proved 
through the testimony of English documents^ that 
Mademoiselle had no occasion to make it. 

Advances, alas ! had come from one side only 
and had been ill received. " I very much desire 

' Cf. Madame, Memoirs of Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans, by Julia 
Cartwright (London, 1894). 



La Grande Mademoiselle 137 

the marriage of Mademoiselle," wrote Lady Derby ^ 
to her sister-in-law, Mme. de la Tremouille, through 
whom passed the " insinuations," " but the King has 
a great aversion to it on account of the contempt 
which she has shown him. I have spoken of her 
to Marquis d'Ormond, but I have met with little 
encouragement." In another letter : " I have pro- 
posed Mademoiselle, but I have little hope. If 
the King looks for wealth, we can hardly expect 
greater than with Mademoiselle. But I fear that 
having been despised in his poverty, he may be 
little disposed to regard such a marriage." Charles 
II. would listen to nothing; he had guarded a 
grudge against his cousin. On the other hand, 
there is every appearance of truth when she states 
that the old Due Charles III. de Lorraine,^ had 
demanded her "on his knees" for a youth of eigh- 
teen. Prince Charles de Lorraine, his nephew, who 
became afterwards one of the most famous Austrian 
generals. It was a question, as can well be under- 
stood, of a political combination. 

Unfortunately, Prince Charles himself had an- 
other project, better suited to his age. He was in 
love with the eldest daughter of Madame, Mar- 
guerite d'Orleans, who returned his affection with 
all her heart. The youthful society of the Luxem- 
bourg accuses Mademoiselle of having, through 
jealousy, caused this project to fail. " The affair 

1 Lady Derby was a La Tremouille. The sister-in-law to whom the letters 
are addressed was the sister of Turenne. 

^ Or Charles IV, ; there are two methods of counting the Dukes of 
Lorraine. 



138 Louis XIV. and 

had been advanced," relates that gossip, the Abbe 
de Choisy, " but the old Mademoiselle had talked 
and cackled so much that she spoiled everything." 
She was desperate at the thought of her younger 
sisters, beggars compared to herself, marrying 
under her very eyes. Marguerite d'Orleans made, 
out of spite, a marriage which turned out badly,^ 
but through which Mademoiselle in no way profited. 
Owing to a singular change of desire, from the day 
on which it had depended upon herself to marry 
Prince Charles, she had only felt contempt for this 
little prince ''sans forts.'' ^ 

These caprices made the King impatient, who 
ended by making negotiations with Lorraine with- 
out any longer occupying himself with his cousin. 
Louis XIV. still retained the old monarchical prin- 
ciples in relation to the marriage of princesses. 
He regarded them simply from the point of view 
of politics ; questions to be settled by governments 
and into which sentiments must not be permitted 
to intrude. The idea that every human being has 
a right to happiness did not belong to his times, 
and if it had been suggested, the King would have 
surely condemned it, for it insisted upon individual 
interests as opposed to those of the community, 
the rights of which appeared specially sacred to 
the people of the seventeenth century. 

Louis XIV. did not believe for himself that he 

^ See the very curious volume by M. Rodocanachi, Les Infortunes d'une 
feiite-fille d' Henri IV. The marriage of the Princess Marguerite with the 
Duke of Tuscany took place April 19, 1661. 

^ M^77ioires of Mademoiselle. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 139 

had the right to accept only the agreeable duties 
belonging to his " trade of king," since he had un- 
dertaken an existence devoted to strenuous labour, 
when it would have been so pleasant to do nothing. 
According to his principle, the higher the position 
of an individual, the more it was fitting that he 
should sacrifice his own desires to the public good. 
Mademoiselle had the honour of being his first 
cousin ; he had firmly resolved to marry her, or not 
to marry her, to bestow her hand upon a hero or a 
monster, according as he should judge it useful to 
" the service of the King." There was a certain 
grandeur in this fashion of recognising relationship. 

It had not occurred to the King- that Mademoi- 
selle would ever have the audacity to resist him. 
It can be said that any real understanding between 
the two was an impossibility. Mademoiselle had 
lived too long in the midst of the opposition to 
yield to the notion of absolute royal power with- 
out limitations and including all possible persons. 
Louis XIV. had a too profound faith in the doc- 
trine of the divine right of kings to refuse for 
himself any of the prerogatives devolving upon 
him. Both these opinions represented Frenchmen 
at large ; but for the moment Mademoiselle was 
being borne along by the ebbing tide, Louis XIV. 
by the rising one. 

This Prince had entered the world at an oppor- 
tune moment to profit by a doctrine which, accord- 
ing to a happy expression, seemed made for him as 
he for it. After the Reform, the enforcing the old 



I40 Louis XIV. and 

theory of the divine origin of power had a bene- 
ficial result. The populace in many a country and 
province had found themselves as much interested 
as the sovereigns in suppressing the political power 
of the Pope outside of his own States, and resent- 
ing his interference in the affairs of other countries. 

In France, in the sixteenth century, one meets 
with Calvinist theologians amongst the writers who 
claimed that princes received their power directly 
from God, and from God alone. The immediate 
consequence of this doctrine was to heighten the 
eclat of royalty. Princes became images of divin- 
ity, and even something more ; Louis XIV., not 
yet five, heard himself spoken of as the " Divinity 
made visible." Two years later, the Royal Cate- 
chism ^ explained to him that he was ** Vice-Dieu." 
Twenty years later Louis XIV. was " Dieu," with- 
out any qualification, and Bossuet himself declared 
it from the pulpit. On April 2, 1662, preaching at 
the Louvre and speaking of the duties of kings, 
Bossuet cried : " O Gods of nations and of lands, 
you must die like mortals ; nevertheless, until 
Death, you are Gods." 

When a man hears such statements without 
shrinking, he is quite ready to accept all the conse- 
quences. " Kings," writes an anonymous person, 
" are absolute lords of all who breathe in any 
portion of their empire." ~ 

Louis XIV. has very clearly formulated the 

* Par Fortin de la Hoguete (1645). 
^ L' Image du Souveram (1649). 



La Grande Mademoiselle 141 

same thought in his Memoir es : " The one who has 
given kings to men has wished that they should be 
respected as his lieutenants, reserving for himself 
alone the right to examine their conduct. It is 
the divine wish that any one born a subject should 
obey without question."^ It must be added that 
Louis had arrived at these conclusions under a 
pressure of public opinion, which had become im- 
patiently desirous of giving to monarchy the 
strength needed to place the shattered land again 
in a condition of order. 

On the death of Mazarin, France resembled a 
large establishment whose cupboards, confided to a 
negligent steward, had not during an entire gene- 
ration been put in order. A flash of vivid hope 
passed through France on seeing its young mon- 
arch, vigorously aided by Colbert, put the broom to 
the mass of abuses and inequities which bore the 
name of administration, and show himself resolved, 
in spite of resistance, to Introduce into the great 
public services order and moral cleanliness. 

This was not finished without tears and grinding 
of teeth, not without some Injustice also, as In the 
case of Foucquet, assuredly culpable, but paying for 
many others, of whom Mazarin was the first. But 
this cleansing was accomplished. First, the finances 
were attacked, with the happy result that people 
paid less and that the Imposts returned more ; then 
justice, — law reform was commenced In 1665, and 
the " grands jours " of Auvergne were opened the 

^ Memoires pour 1667. Ed. by Charles Dreyss. 



142 Louis XIV. and 

same year ; the army, — the soldiers, paid regularly, 
committed fewer disorders, and the nobility learned, 
willingly or not, military obedience. 

At the same time, industry and commerce in- 
creased to such an extent that, from 1668, orders 
flooded Paris " from the entire world " for a vast 
number of articles which ten years previous had 
been imported. The ambassador from Venice, Gius- 
tiniani, writes this statement to his government. 

The strong-will of the master had put the coun- 
try in motion. Louis XIV. was confirmed in his 
high opinion of absolute monarchy. The same year 
in which Bossuet had encouraged him to believe 
himself above ordinary humanity, the King de- 
cided, with a perfectly equable conscience, to marry 
the Grande Mademoiselle to a veritable monster, 
in the interest of a political combination which 
he held at heart, for he returns to it several times 
in his Mimoires. His father-in-law, Philippe IV., 
menaced the independence of Portugal.-^ Louis 
XIV. hesitated to assist Portugal openly, on ac- 
count of the treaty of the Pyrenees.^ On the other 
hand, he considered double-dealing more honest to 
the Spaniards than their conduct might be to him 
if opportunity permitted. " I cannot doubt that 
they would have been the first to violate the treaty 
of the Pyrenees on a thousand points, and I should 
believe myself failing in my duty to the State, if, 
through being more scrupulous, I should permit 

' Portugal had again become independent in 1640. 
"^ Aldmoires for the year 166 1. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 143 

them freely to ruin Portugal, and to fall back upon 
me with their entire strength." 

It seemed to him that he could conciliate all by 
aiding Portugal secretly, and Turenne had no re- 
pugnance to this course. This kind of action was 
then called, and is often still designated, sagacious 
statesmanship. 

Such being the situation, Turenne came one 
afternoon to seek Mademoiselle in her cabinet. 
The account of this interview has been preserved 
for us by the Princess, and we can this time trust 
her accuracy. Her Mdmoires are in accord with 
contemporary witnesses. It was towards the end 
of the winter of 1662. Turenne seated himself at 
the corner of the fireplace and began with tender 
protestations. ** As I am somewhat brusque, I at 
once demanded of him, ' What is the question ? ' 
He replied : ' I wish to marry you.' I interrupted 
him, saying : * That is not easy ; I am content 
with my condition.' 

" * I will make you Queen. Listen to me. Let 
me tell you everything, and afterward you can 
speak. I wish to make you Queen of Portugal.' 
*Fi!' cried I to myself, *I do not wish it.' He 
went on : * Maidens of your quality have no de- 
sires ; they must act as the King wills.' " 

The monarch whose mention makes Mademoi- 
selle cry " Fi ! " was called Alphonse VI., and was 
not yet twenty. At twenty-three, the Abbe de Saint- 
Romain,^ our envoy to Portugal, reported that he 

* Mignet, IV/gociaiions relatives a la succession d'Espagne. 



144 Louis XIV. and 

could neither read nor write. In compensation, he 
pulled the ears and tore out the hair of those who 
approached him, and this was in his "good days" ; 
in the bad ones, he struck, indifferently with his 
feet, hands, or sword, any one who vexed him. 
His subjects no longer dared to pass through the 
streets at night, because one of his diversions was 
to charge at them suddenly in the *' darkness and 
to try to spit them." 

In person, Alphonse VI. was a fat little barrel, 
paralysed in one limb, "gluttonous and dirty," 
almost always drunk, and vomiting after his meals. 
He wore six or seven coats one over the other, 
amongst which " a petticoat of three hundred taf- 
fetas, embroidered with pistol shots " ; upon his 
head, a hood falling over his eyes, several caps over 
this, one of which covered the ears, and an " Eng- 
lish bonnet" over all. "His body," pursues the 
Abbe, " smells horribly, and he has always bad 
ulcers in the softer portions . . . and these 
offences could not be supported if he did not 
bathe once daily in winter, twice in other seasons." 
Fear obliged him to make " seventeen people 
always sleep in his chamber." 

Turenne, however, forced himself to gild this 
rather bitter pill. He pointed out to Mademoiselle 
how useful it would be and for what reasons to 
have a French princess on the throne of Portugal. 
He promised her, knowing her special weakness, 
that she should be absolute mistress of the " great 
and powerful army " ; that the King would give it 



La Grande Mademoiselle 145 

entirely over to her by degrees. Without doubt, 
Alphonse VI, was a paralytic, " but," asserted 
Turenne, " this does not appear when he is 
dressed ; he only slightly drags one leg, and is a 
little awkward with his arm. So much the better, 
if his intelligence also is a little slow. It is not 
known whether or not he has any wit ; after all, it 
is only good form for husbands to be gay." 

" But," replied Mademoiselle, " to be the link of 
a perpetual war between France and Spain seems 
to me a very undesirable position." The situation 
would be still worse if, as she was convinced would 
be the case, the two crowns should arrive at an 
accommodation. 

" A truly beautiful future : to have a drunken 
and paralytic husband, whom the Spaniards would 
chase from his kingdom, and to return to France 
to demand alms, when all my wealth has been dis- 
sipated, and to remain only the queen of some 
little village. It is good to be Mademoiselle in 
France with five hundred thousand francs of in- 
come, and nothing to demand of the Court. Thus 
placed, it is foolish to move. If the Court becomes 
weariness, one can retire to one's chateau in the 
country, in which a little private court of one's own 
can be held. It is very diverting also to build new 
houses. Finally, as mistress of one's own wishes 
one is happy, for one does what one wills." 

" But," returned Turenne, *' remaining Made- 
moiselle, even admitting all that you have said, you 
are still subject to the King. He commands what 



146 Louis XIV. and 

he wills ; when his wishes are refused, he scolds ; 
a thousand disagreeable things are felt at Court; 
often the King goes farther, he chases people 
away. When they are content in one place, he 
sends them to another. He orders journeys from 
one end of the kingdom to the other. Sometimes, 
he imprisons recalcitrants in their own homes, or 
sends them into convents, and in the end, obedience 
must come. What can you reply to this ? " 

" That people of your station do not menace 
those of mine," cried Mademoiselle in anger ; "that 
I know what I must do ; that if the King says any- 
thing contrary, I will see what I shall respond to 
im. 

She forbade Turenne to mention this affair 
again, and withdrew. " Five or six days later, he 
again addressed me." At this time, some common 
friends were present. Mademoiselle grew anxious. 
How far was Turenne the authorised messenger of 
the King? She wrote to the latter to provoke 
an explanation. No response. She confided her 
trouble to the Queen Mother, who confined herself 
to these words: "If the King wishes this, it is a 
terrible pity ; he is master ; as for me, I have 
nothing to say in the matter." 

" I was in frightful haste," adds Mademoiselle, 
" that the time for the Baths of Forges should come, 
and that I might go away." The season arrived. 
It was needful to take leave of the King. She 
wished to have the Court plainly understand her 
intention : " ' Sire, if your Majesty is thinking of my 



La Grande Mademoiselle 147 

establishment, here is M. de Bezlers, who will 
go to Turin ; he can negotiate my marriage with 
M. de Savoie.' — ' I will think of you when it suits 
me, and marry you when it will be of service to 
me,' in a dry tone which much frightened me. 
After this, he saluted me very coldly, and I went 
away and I took my waters." 

Mademoiselle had the imprudence both to talk 
and write. Bussy-Rabutin even pretends that " she 
had written a letter to the King of Spain, which 
was intercepted," suggesting a fete in his neigh- 
bourhood ; but this is difficult to believe, however 
inconsiderate Mademoiselle sometimes was. 

From Forges, Mademoiselle went to the Chateau 
d'Eu, which she had bought a short time before. 
It was at this place, October 15, 1662, that she 
received from the Kinof commands to return to 
Saint-Fargeau, "until new orders." Upon the route 
she met letters from every one. 

To be banished for having refused to marry 
Alphonse VI., — the country was not yet ready for 
these consequences of the new regime. It was 
soon known that Mademoiselle had ordered from 
Paris "needles, canvas, and silk," as if she ex- 
pected to have on her hands plenty of spare time. 
But if affairs remained at this point, she was not 
paying too dearly for the pleasure of escaping be- 
ing made Queen of Portugal. This was her own 
opinion, and she became very amiable. 

The departure of Mademoiselle did not leave a 



148 Louis XIV. and 

large vacuum in the young Court ; there was at the 
official ceremonies one princess the less, and this 
was all. For the new generation had passed with 
the Kine to the front ranks ; the Grande Made- 
moiselle was now only the " old Mademoiselle," as 
Abbe de Choisy called her. The youthful loves 
and the pleasures belonging to twenty years had 
nothing to do with her, nor, what is more, with the 
Queen Mother, who had in old age become a 
preacher, and who now belonged to the " devots " 
grouped under her protection. 

Moliere by his impiety scandalised these pious 
people who considered it wicked for the King to 
have mistresses. 

The question still waiting to be solved was, on 
which side the master would definitely range him- 
self. For the moment, Louis XIV. leaned very 
strongly towards the friends of good-nature and of 
his joyous freedom. Would he be gained over by 
these ? Would the logic of events and ideas lead 
him to shake off the trammel of religious prac- 
tices, then that of belief, in the fashion of Hugues 
de Lionne, of the Bussy-Rabutins, of the Guiche, 
of the Roquelaure, of the Vardes, and a hundred 
other " Libertins," who only saw in the practices 
of religion a collection of silly tricks ? The obtain- 
ing an answer to this query was really the impor- 
tant affair of the year 1662, a much more serious 
interest than any preoccupation in regard to the 
chronicle of the doings at the Luxembourg or at 
Saint-Fargeau. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 149 

The young Queen was anxious ; she scented 
danger, but she knew only how to groan and 
weep, without comprehending that red eyes and a 
grumbling tone were not the best attractions for 
retaining- a husband. She had not even the con- 
solation of being pitied, having only made the one 
friend, Anne of Austria, who in default of some- 
thing better, forced herself to preserve some il- 
lusions upon the melancholy of the little Queen's 
destiny. 

It would have been hard to find a better creature 
than Marie-Therese, fresh and round, who leapt 
with joy the day following her marriage, and re- 
lated ingenuously to Mme. de Motteville her little 
romance. Marie-Therese had always remembered 
that her mother,^ who died when she was only six, 
had repeated that she desired to see her Queen of 
France ; that this was the only possible happiness, 
or, if not attained, nothing remained but a convent. 
The little Princess had grown up with the thought 
of France. Louis XIV. had been the Prince Char- 
mant of her infant dreams. When she knew 
that a French lord came " post haste " to demand 
her hand for his master, it seemed to her entirely 
natural. She had spied from a window the ar- 
rival of M. de Gramont.^ He had passed by very 

' Elisabeth de France, daughter of Henry IV., born in 1602. She mar- 
ried Philip IV., in 1615, gave birth to Marie-Therese in 1638, and died 
in 1644. 

** This was the Marshal de Gramont, father of the Comte de Guiche. 
The "magnificence" and the ^'' galanterie" of his journey to Madrid to de- 
mand the Infanta have left lively memories. 



150 Louis XIV. and 

quickly, followed by many other Frenchmen, deco- 
rated with gold and silver, and covered with feathers 
and ribbons of all colours. One might have said, 
*■' 2l parterre of flowers, bearing the royal demand," 
related the young Queen, becoming poetical for 
the first and last time in her life. 

Once married, Marie-Therese had demanded of 
her husband the promise that they should never 
be separated, either by day or night, if it possibly 
could be avoided. Louis XIV. promised and kept 
his word, but it was a useless precaution. 

According to Mme. de Motteville and Mme. de 
Maintenon,^ the Queen did not know how to con- 
duct herself toward her husband. She was stupid 
in her manner of showing her devotion ; if the King 
wanted her, she would refuse to sacrifice a prayer 
in order to be with him. She had also an " ill- 
directed " jealousy ; if the King did not desire her 
company, she did not sufficiently distinguish, in her 
complaints, against those who wiled him away, be- 
tween Mile, de La Valliere and the Council of 
Ministers. Her ill temper was discouraging. If 
the King led her with him, she complained of every- 
thing ; if he did not, there were floods of tears. 
If the dinner was not to her taste she sulked ; if it 
pleased her, tormented herself : " Everything will 
be eaten, nothing will be left for me." "And the 
King jeered at her," added Mademoiselle, hav- 

' Souvenirs de Madame de Cayhts, M/moires de Mme. de Motteville, 
Souvenirs sur Madame de Maintenon, published by the Comte de Hausson- 
ville and M. G. Ilanotaux. 




HELENE LAMBERT, MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE 
After the painting by De Largilliere 



La Grande Mademoiselle 151 

ing the honour, through her birth, of being often 
found amongst those who "eat everything." 

Marie-Therese was good, generous, virtue itself, 
she had a violent passion for her husband, and with 
all this she was a person to be avoided. Mme. de 
Maintenon summed up the situation in saying that 
"the Queen knew how to love but not how to please ; 
the reverse of the King, who possessed qualities 
for pleasing all, without being capable of a strong 
affection. All women except his own wife were 
agreeable to him." 

Free-thinkers and debauchees did not have to 
consider Marie-Therese ; she had not a shadow of 
influence over her husband. For different reasons, 
neither Monsieur, the brother of the King, nor the 
wife of Monsieur were any obstacles. Much has 
been said of the seductive power of Mme. Henri- 
etta of England ^ ; of her irresistible grace, her 
delicate beauty, and her special charm. These 
characteristics, very rare with a great princess, had 
proved of great value during her youth of humili- 
ating poverty, when she was reduced to living as 
a "private person." She had then met with "all 
celebrities, all civility, and all humanity, even upon 
ordinary conditions,^ and nothing perhaps had con- 
tributed more to make her love men and adore 
women." Her faults were great, but they were 
not weighed against her, on account of that gift of 

^ Married on April i, 1661, at seventeen. Monsieur (Philippe de France, 
due d' Orleans) was then twenty-one, 

* Histoire de Madame Henriette d' Angleterre, by Mme. de La Fayette. 



152 Louis XIV. and 

pleasing which was in her and which circumstances 
had developed. Madame was a hidden evil influ- 
ence, and an openly dangerous one. She could 
become the centre of low Court intrigues, without 
losing, or even risking, the loss of her empire over 
hearts. To this first good fortune was united that 
of having Bossuet to shelter her memory. 

Henrietta of England has traversed " centuries 
protected by his [Bossuet's] funeral oration," as she 
passed through her life protected by the fascina- 
tion with which nature endows certain women, by 
no means always the best ones. 

Monsieur since our last encounter with him had 
not improved. He had, as might be said, publicly 
and without shame, established himself in vice, and 
in vice of the worst kind. Marriage had done 
nothing for him. " The miracle of inflaming the 
heart of this prince," discreetly explains Mme. de La 
Fayette, " was reserved for no woman belonging to 
the social world." ^ Delivered over to a crowd of 
very exacting favourites who never left him a mo- 
ment free from domestic complications, Monsieur 
had, according to the expressive word of his mother, 
become indisputably an intriguer. Between Ma- 
dame and himself, their court was a place of incon- 
ceivable agitation, a sink of lies and calumnies, of 
small perfidies, and little treasons, which make one 
sick, even when related by Mme. de La Fayette. 

Truly, I hardly know whether or not in writing 
her Histoire de Madame Henriette this latter has 

' Histoire de Madame de Henriette, etc. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 153 

rendered a service to her dear Princess. With the 
exception of the first pages, before the marriage, 
and of the beautiful death scene at the end, the rest 
is a tissue of nothings so contemptible in every re- 
spect that the book falls from one's hands : and this 
is all that the author of the Princesse de Cloves has 
found to say about a person so prominent ; of a 
sister-in-law to whom Louis XIV. confided political 
secrets and whom he loved almost too dearly. 

Among all the personages belonging to the 
royal family, the Libertins had only to consider 
the Queen Mother, their declared enemy, and the 
King himself, as yet too reserved for it to be divined 
how he contemplated accommodating pleasure and 
religion. It had not taken long to perceive that 
he would not restrain himself in pleasure. He was 
married, June 9, 1660. A year later commenced 
the series of mistresses imposed upon the royal 
household and upon France, they and their children, 
in a fashion which recalls Oriental polygamy rather 
than the manners of the Occident. Louis XIV. 
had felt himself incapable of a virtuous life. One 
day, when his mother, profiting by the tender- 
ness awakened by a reconciliation — they had not 
spoken for some time to each other — represented 
the scandal of his liaison with Mile, de La Valliere, 
he responded cordially with tears of grief which 
proceeded from the bottom of his heart, where 
were still some remains of his former piety, — "that 
he knew his wrong ; that he felt sometimes the 
pain and shame of it ; that he had tried his best 



154 Louis XIV. and 

not to offend God and not to yield to his passions, 
but he was forced to confess that they were stronger 
than his reason, that he could not resist their vio- 
lence, and that he no longer felt any desire so to 
do."^ 

This conversation took place in July, 1664. 
The following autumn, the King having found the 
Queen, his wife, in tears in her oratoire on account 
of a too-well founded jealousy, he gave her the 
hope of finding him at thirty " a good husband," — 
a somewhat cynical suggestion. 

He not only had " violent passions," but he had 
not discovered any reasons for restraining himself 
in regard to women. One reads in his Mdmoires, 
which were written for the dauphin to see, a pas- 
sage worthy of Lord Chesterfield, in which he 
gives his son his ideas upon the subject of kings' 
mistresses. 

The page referred to relates to the year 1667, 
in which commenced the war of the Ddvolution : ^ 

Before departing for the army, I sent an edict to Parlia- 
ment. I raised to a Duchy the territory of Vaujours in fa- 
vour of Mile, de La Valliere and recognised a daughter of 
mine by her. For, resolving in accompanying the army not 
to remain apart from possible perils, I thought it just to assure 
to the child the honour of her birth, and to give to her mother 
an establishment suitable to the affection which since her 
sixth year I had felt for her, I might have done well not to 
mention this attachment, the example of which is not good to 
follow ; but having drawn much instruction from the failings 

' M^moires de Mme. de Motteville. 

* War between relations in regard to property. 




LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE 
From the engraving by Flameng after the painting by Petitot 



La Grande Mademoiselle 155 

of others, I have not wished to deprive you of the lessons you 
may learn from mine. 

The first instruction to draw from his failings 
was that it was not needful to waste time on wo- 
men ; " that the time devoted to love should never 
be taken to the prejudice of other duties." The 
second consideration was that in abandoning 
the heart it was necessary to remain absolute 
master of one's mind : that the tenderness of 
a lover should be separated from the resolutions of 
a sovereign ; that the fair one who gives pleasure 
should never be permitted to speak of affairs, or 
of those who serve us, and that the two portions of 
life should be kept entirely apart. " You will re- 
member how I have warned you on various occa- 
sions of the harmful influence of favourites ; that 
of a mistress Is still more dangerous." 

Louis XIV. insisted at length upon the mental 
weakness which makes women dangerous. He had 
studied them from an intimate point of view, and 
he judged " these animals " almost as did Arnolphe. 
" They are," said he to the Dauphin, " eloquent in 
their expressions, pressing in their prayers, obsti- 
nate in their sentiments. No secret can be safe with 
them. They always act with calculation, and con- 
sequently use 'cunning and artifice.' However 
much it may cost to a loving heart, a Prince can- 
not take too many 'precautions' with his mis- 
tresses. This is a duty imposed upon him by the 
throne itself." 

Poor La Valliere, so disinterested, so little of an 



156 Louis XIV. and 

intriguer ! What grief if she had read these cruel 
pages ! 

The counsels we have just read are very politic, 
very prudent ; they have nothing to do with either 
morality or religion. The royal Memoires, in an- 
other part indeed, add that " the Prince should 
always be a perfect model of virtue," and also that 
it is a Christian duty to abstain from all illicit com- 
merce, " which is almost never innocent ^ 

As a matter of fact, Louis XIV. had not ex- 
tracted much in regard to moral discipline from a 
cult of which he knew only the forms. During his 
infancy, his mother had reserved to herself his re- 
ligious education. She had led him at an early age 
into the churches, where she passed a portion of 
each day, and she had communicated to him a little 
of her narrow and mechanical piety. Louis XIV. 
never understood any other kind. He knew his 
catechism but little better than his Latin grammar. 
This ignorance was, perhaps, aggravated by the 
fact of his realising the need of a knowledge of 
Latin in order to read diplomatic despatches, while 
he could see no use whatever in knowing the facts 
of religion. 

He never changed in this respect ; Mme. de 
Maintenon herself made vain efforts. The second 
Madame, La Palatine, did not succeed better. She 
wrote : " If he only believed that he should listen 
to his confessor and recite his Pater Noster, all 
would go well and his devotion would be perfect." ^ 

' Letter of July 9, 1749, a.nd passim, in his correspondence. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 157 

Holding these ideas, the King was very vexed, 
deified as he was by a crowd of adulators, to meet 
among his subjects men sufficiently bold to blame 
his conduct and to frankly tell him so. Some pre- 
lates showed severity. It belonged to their profes- 
sion to do so. But that courtiers, and even, as it 
was related, a simple bourgeois of Paris, should 
dare to address remonstrances to their sovereign, — 
this could not be tolerated, — especially as their 
reproaches excited his mother against him, — at the 
risk of an embroilment, which in fact occurred. 

As good politics, if for no other reason, Louis 
XIV. was resolved not to permit any interference 
in his affairs. He felt somewhat vaguely that all 
these people were uniting to teach him a lesson. 
He suspected a considerable organised force be- 
hind this Cabale des Divots, who represented 
austerity at Court, and whom the Libertins of the 
Louvre ridiculed. 

We know this organised force. We have seen it 
at work in a former chapter under the name of 
The Compagnie du Saint Sacrement, when it was 
engaged with Vincent de Paul in the great chari- 
table undertakings of the century.^ The malevolent 
nickname of Cabale des Divots had been given, 
towards the year 1658, by the many who abomin- 
ated the society without knowing its true title or 
its organisation, simply because it disturbed the 
course of their own existence. 

Since the date at which we last saw the organisa- 

* ' Cf. La Cabale des De'vots, by M. Raoul AUier. 



158 Louis XIV. and 

tion at work, the management had been offering the 
same mixture of good and evil. 

Everything that it had done for the reHef of the 
poor, the prisoners, the galley slaves, and other 
miserable beings, to protect them against abuse 
and tyranny, and to raise them morally, had been 
above all praise ; as had also its efforts to assure a 
certain amount of decency in the streets, or to com- 
bat in the higher classes the two curses of the time, 
duels and gambling. As much cannot be said of 
the narrow and fanatical opinions which rendered 
it a persecutor and police agent, of its taste for 
spying or accusing, of its barbarity in regard to 
heretics and men of genius. It easily became dan- 
gerous and malignant, and it was difficult to find 
defence against this occult power which had " eyes 
and ears everywhere." Mazarin, whom it secretly 
tormented through anonymous letters, had sought 
and pursued it with eagerness, and during the last 
months of his life the society was forced to hide 
itself. After the death of the Cardinal, the Co7n- 
pagnie again put itself in motion, and it is evident 
that it had regained confidence, for with only the 
Queen Mother for its friend it dared to attack the 
King. 

At this epoch, Anne of Austria is a very inter- 
esting person. The Compagnie du Saint Sacre- 
inent had become a political party since it tried to 
make sure of the King, and if it had succeeded, the 
history of the entire reign would have been altered. 
Delivered to its influence, the State would not have 



La Grande Mademoiselle 159 

delayed until the Great Revolution to trouble its 
conscience about the duties towards the people at 
large. 

The imprudence of the conduct of the society 
towards the King, and his indiscretions, gave the 
game to the Libertins. They did not despair, con- 
sidering the discontent of the King, of attracting 
him to themselves, to their incredulity, their lack 
of docility towards religious belief, and in truth, 
without going to the point of regretting their final 
check, we can hardly be sorry that this "routine 
intelligence " should have received a slight shock. 

The mind of Louis XIV., so remarkable for its 
justice and solidity, was the opposite of the modern 
mind in its total absence of curiosity and in the 
difficulty of changing its point of view. The King 
had need of skeptical reading. As he never read, 
the assaults of the Libertins rendered him the ser- 
vice of slightly moving his ideas ; they deranged 
him in his habits of mechanical practices. 

Olivier d'Ormesson, who was of the Compagnie 
du Saint Sacreinent, wrote, after the Pentecost of 
1664, " that the King had not performed his devo- 
tions at the fete, and that Monsieur having de- 
manded if he intended to 'practice,' he had replied 
that he was no longer going to be a hypocrite like 
himself, who was confessing only to please the 
Queen Mother."^ 

The conscience of the King was passing through 
a crisis ; every one felt this. In the presence of an 

' yournal d' Olivier Lefevre d' Ormesson, 



i6o Louis XIV. and 

event of such importance, the misfortunes of the 
Grande Mademoiselle, already but little in the 
thoughts of the rising generation, completely lost 
interest. Everything was forgotten. 

During the first months of her exile, Mademoi- 
selle was occupied in opposing the King. Louis 
XIV. had not abandoned the idea of marry- 
ing her to Alphonse VI., and Turenne was en- 
deavouring to make her " reasonable," from which 
resulted an " interchange of letters " and of official 
visits which had the good side of breaking the 
monotony at Saint-Fargeau. This time, the life 
there was very dull. The old animation had not 
returned. Too proud to avow it, Mademoiselle 
expressed herself cheerfully in her letters. On 
November 9, 1662, she wrote to Bussy-Rabutin : 
" I believe that the sojourn which I shall make 
here will be longer than you desire. If I were not 
afraid of appearing too indifferent, I should say 
that I care but little. Perhaps this would be true ; 
but it is not well to always speak the truth." ^ 

Her Mdmoires are more sincere. She relates that 
at the end of five months, she wrote to the King 
that she should die if she remained longer ; that it 
was an unhealthy place on account of the marshes 
by which the chateau was surrounded ; that she 
" did not believe herself to have done anything 
which merited death, and such a death, . . . 
and if he wished her to make a long penitence for 
the crimes which she had not committed, she sup- 

' M^moires de Bussy-Rabutin, 



La Grande Mademoiselle i6i 

plicated him to permit her to go to Eu." Louis 
XIV. permitted Eu, but made Mademoiselle under- 
stand that he had not renounced the project of 
marriage with the King of Portugal, and that he 
hoped to lead her, through his kindness, "to the 
sentiments she should have." She did not delay to 
discuss the matter. " I departed at once and 
quitted Saint-Fargeau without regret." This was 
a final adieu. 

Mademoiselle had just bought the Comte d'Eu, 
under circumstances which show how the landed 
and manorial estates of the ancient regime, which 
from a distance appear so solid, were in reality 
held by the most fragile tenure and at the mercy 
of any accident. The Comte d'Eu was the prop- 
erty of the illustrious and powerful family of Guise. 
In 1654, the proprietor of the moment, Louis de 
Lorraine, due de Joyeuse, was killed at the siege 
of Arras, leaving an only son of youthful age, Louis 
Joseph de Lorraine, Prince de Joinville. This 
child had for guardian his aunt. Mile, de Guise, 
an intelligent and important person, the oracle of 
the family, says Saint-Simon. He had also two 
other guardians, one of whom, Claude de Bourde- 
ville, Comte de Montresor, had secretly married 
Mile, de Guise. These three guardians soon per- 
ceived that they were powerless to defend the in- 
terests confided to them. The Comte d'Eu was 
burdened with two million francs of debt, a figure 
which would not have led to disaster if the Due de 
Joyeuse had been there to make his rights respected 



1 62 Louis XIV. and 

and to reclaim his share of the monarchical manna ; 
such as pensions, gratifications of the King, bene- 
fices, governments. Court charges. But he was 
dead, and the property of the minor had been put 
to the quarry, by the people of affairs on the one 
hand, and the Norman peasants on the other. 
Against these business sharks, the guardians were 
obliged, after years of struggle, to invoke the aid 
of Parliament. They addressed a petition ^ in 
which they stated that their ward, because he was 
a child " destitute of the powerful means " which 
his father would have possessed, had become the 
victim of usurers and roorues. The two million 
debt of the Comte d'Eu had been largely bought 
up by artificial and suspicious creditors, with whom 
it was impossible to arrive at any settlement. 

These fishers in troubled waters had brouorht 
the disorder to its height in practising seizures. The 
entire revenue was exhausted by expenses. The 
guardians besought Parliament to extricate them 
from this slough in ordering a replevin " of all the 
seizures and judgments, and in according that there 
should be a reprieve from all prosecutions and 
executions against them during two years." They 
hoped with this respite to arrive at a general 
liquidation. 

Against the Norman peasants no one saw any- 
thing to do but quickly to outwit them through the 

' A nos Seigneurs de Parlement, — Archives of the Chateau of Eu. Mgr. 
le Due d' Orleans has thrown open to me the Archives of Eu with a 
liberality for which I here heartily express my gratitude. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 163 

sale of the Comte d'Eu to a master capable of 
overawing them. The difficulty, under the condi- 
tions in France at that time, was to find a person 
of quality able to dispose of several millions. 

Mademoiselle, who always had money, had at 
once been thought of. At first, she was too occu- 
pied in fighting her father, but the idea struck her 
favourably, and as soon as her hands were free she 
remembered the suggestion. The bargain was 
concluded in 1657. This affair did not suit the 
pettifoggers. There were so many opposing 
clauses, so many legal complications, so many 
lawsuits, and so many decrees needed in order to 
place Mademoiselle in power, and to make it pos- 
sible for her to possess Eu in due form, that years 
rolled by, as the petition of the two guardians testi- 
fies, before the peasants of Eu were deranged in 
their work of moles. During the delay, they had 
continued to devour the substance of the princely 
orphan, aided it must be said by other Normans 
not peasants, who did not show themselves more 
scrupulous or less avaricious. 

How both gentles and peasants acted can be ex- 
actly known through the Archives of Eu. At the 
time of the guardian petition. Mademoiselle had 
sent one of her men to take account of the state of 
affairs. 

The report of the agent, completed by other 
business papers,^ establishes that the Comte of Eu 

' Declaration par le Menu du Conitd d''Eu (May 8, l66o), and Invenioire 
ght^ral du Comti d'' Eu (July i, 1663). 



164 Louis XIV. and 

drew more than half its revenue from its forest. 
This forest, which still exists, contains from ten to 
eleven thousand acres,^ is eight to nine leagues 
long, and should have been formed of trees of 
all ages, if the inhabitants had not worked so in- 
dustriously that it was difficult to find a "piece of 
timber." It was, at the date of which we are speak- 
ing, only underwood, and often only scrub bushes, 
on account of the cattle which " damaged it." The 
entire neigbourhood had contributed to this extra- 
ordinary destruction of a forest of eight leagues. 

The inhabitants of twenty villages, several ab- 
beys, gentlemen, priests, simple private people 
had come, under pretext of " ancient rights," to 
take the wood as if it belonged to them. The 
guards of the forest and their relatives and friends 
had likewise helped themselves. The officials of 
the domain had cut, wrongly or rightly, what the 
public had left, and to complete the ruin of the 
woods, every one had sent cows or pigs to run 
through the young bushes. 

The assent of Mademoiselle concluded that it 
was absolutely needful to stop this pillage, or even 
" fifty thousand francs' worth of wood could never 
be secured annually." He pointed out other 
abuses ; in the absence of a firm hand the nature of 
seignorial privilege rendered these inevitable. I 
have myself seen many tables of the revenues of 
the Comte Eu in the seventeenth century. The 
frauds must have been easy and tempting, the col- 

' The Norman acre contains 81 acres and 71 centiares 



La Grande Mademoiselle 165 

lecting of imposts most costly. One notes a pay- 
ment due at Christmas, in money and material, by 
inhabitants, possessors of any real estate, " house 
or hovel," field or garden : 

" Francis Guignon of the village of Cyrel owes 40 sols 2 
capons, on account of a house in the said Cyrel." " Frangois 
de Buc . . . owes 8 sols a third of a capon, on account 
of a house." ** Guillaume Fumechon . . . owes 43 sols 
and 2 capons on account of half an acre of land." " The 
heirs of Jean Dree owe 8 sols and the half of a capon," 
"Jean Rose 31 sols, 2 fowls and 11 eggs, on account of 
meadow lands." "The Sieur de Saint-igny of Mesnil at 
Caux owes 4 francs 9 sols, 10 bushels of wheat and the same 
quantity of oats." " Alizon owes 3 sols, 6 deniers and one 
third of a capon." A cultivator owes " 78 quarts of wheat, 15 
bushels of oats and a fowl." Another " 2 bushels i quart of 
oats and a quarter of a goose." Another " 5 quarters of a 
goose," 

and so on through 350 folio pages. 

The impost called " du travers " was enforced 
upon merchandise entering Eu by the gate of 
Picardy. So much was paid by chariot or loaded 
horse. Butchers paid for " every head of cattle, sow, 
or pig, one denier, for each white beast, an obole " ; 
vendors of fish for each basket borne upon the arm, 
*' 2 deniers " ; furriers for each skin, an obole. 

Then comes the impost " upon the * old clothes,' 
or ' dyed materials ' for which is due for every bed 
sold in the city of Eu, new or old, 4 deniers ; and 
for each robe, doublet, or pair of stockings, or any 
other article for the use of man or woman, when 
sold, I denier." 



i66 Louis XIV. and 

The linen merchant also owed one denier, upon 
pain of amend, for each cut sold. There was levied 
a tax upon the measuring of grain and the weigh- 
ing of merchandise. The mills were the property 
of the Lord of Eu, and grinding was not permitted 
except for him. The agent of Mademoiselle re- 
commended the enforcing of this, which had been 
neglected, with the result of diminished revenue. 

The fishers of Treport paid 500 herrings at 
each drawing of the nets ; outsiders who came to 
fish in the Treport, 100 herrings. All stray animals 
not reclaimed before one year belonged to the Lord 
of Eu, and all royal fish, like sturgeons, whales, 
porpoises, 8 '''ones de fner^' and other large fish. 

This is not all, but it is sufficient to explain the 
rapidity with which the revenue of a seignorial 
property melted away when the master was not 
there to make the little world afraid, to solicit 
judges, in case of lawsuits, according to the usage, 
and to apply to the King in need, for an important 
person, having, according to the popular expression, 
" the long arm." 

Both evil and possible remedy were known. The 
deplorable state in which affairs had been found 
had not at all disturbed the agent of Mademoiselle. 
Knowing his mistress, he did not doubt that she 
would get the better of the Normans, and he pre- 
dicted success. " When everything is put in order," 
said he, " (as appears will easily be accomplished) 
the Comte of Eu will be a profitable estate yield- 
ing a great revenue." The use of the word 



La Grande Mademoiselle 167 

** easily " was a slight exaggeration. The Comte 
of Eu was finally ** adjudged " to Mademoiselle de 
Montpensier, by "decree" of the Parliament of 
Paris, August 20, 1660, for the sum of 2,550,000 
francs. She undertook at once to save the rem- 
nants of the forest and found the population 
leagued against her to guard its prey. 

At the end of six months, Mademoiselle felt that 
she was hardly strong enough for the task, and ad- 
dressed herself to the King.^ She explained to 
him that for the surveillance of her forest she had 
established a numerous guard which " cost much to 
support," but that the inhabitants had 

formed the habit of entering boldly into the said forest and of 
committing all sorts of misdemeanours, boasting that they 
would continue so to do; that they had just killed with a gun 
shot in his stomach, one of her guards for having tried to 
prevent a theft of wood; that they were threatening others to 
have them appointed collectors of imposts, which would leave 
them no time to guard; that they taxed them as peasants, also 
with other impositions; that, in one word, the best was done 
to render the position of guard untenable. 

Mademoiselle consequently begged the King 
that he would particularly forbid the inhabitants 
to carry arms or to have them in their homes, and, 
on the other hand, that he would permit her guards 
to be armed. She reclaimed for them also certain 
privileges which would enable them to punish de- 
linquents. Louis XIV. accorded all, and it proved 
possible to stop the depredations. On the death 

' Her request to the King was dated February 9, 1661 (Archives of Eu). 



i68 Louis XIV. and 

of Mademoiselle, the forest of Eu was again filled 
with full-grown trees. 

As to suppressing the " rights," it was useless to 
be first cousin to the King ; this could not be ac- 
complished. All that could be done was to pre- 
vent these rights multiplying and to limit as far as 
practicable their exactions. Between the possess- 
ors of these " rights " and the proprietor, there was 
a chronic state of hostility. 

There still exist special " rights " in France ; 
every one can for himself observe the inconvenience 
of the system. The only one of those interested 
who derived no profits from the game was the little 
Prince de Joinville, his creditors having continued 
their manoeuvres to avoid any settlement. 

On March 27, 1661, the Parliament of Paris ren- 
dered a decree which obliged them to accept pay- 
ment. Eight years had elapsed since the death of 
the Due de Joyeuse. The budget of debts had 
reached the sum of two millions of francs.^ When 
all was finally settled, Instead of having a balance 
for their ward, the guardians found themselves In 
face of a deficit of more than 150,000 francs. 

We have already seen how Gaston, In his posi- 
tion as chief of the House, had boldly pillaged the 
fortune of his minor daughter. In the present 
case, on the contrary. It was the loss of the father 
which had given opportunity for the spoliation 

' The debts amounted exactly to 2,700,718 frs. 18 sols. {Liste des Cr^an- 
ciers in Archives of the Chateau of Eu). It will be remembered that Made- 
moiselle paid for Eu 2,550,000 frs. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 169 

of a child. Mazarln had left Gaston alone as a 
punishment to Mademoiselle for her conduct dur- 
ing the Fronde. Louis XIV. seems to have taken 
little interest in the offshoot of the turbulent and 
ambitious family of Guise. In both cases, the 
favourable or unfavourable attitude of royalty had 
decided the issue of an affair of money. 

Mademoiselle took official possession of Eu on 
August 24, 1 66 1. An entry such as she loved had 
been arranged, with procession, banners, Venetian 
lanterns, speeches, musket salutes, and the firing of 
cannon from all the artillery in the city -^ — one 
dozen pieces of cannon and forty boetes upon the 
ramparts and eight cannon and forty boetes upon 
the terrace of the chateau. Mademoiselle returned 
the following year, but only actually installed her- 
self at Eu in 1663 after having obtained permission 
to leave Saint-Fargeau : " I am resolved to pass 
my winter here, without any chagrin at the thought." 
She watched her workmen, walked a great deal, 
and busied herself in the domestic offices. She 
also received visits : " There were many provincial 
people, reasonable enough ; a number of persons of 
rank ; but my heart was heavy. Comedians came 
to offer themselves ; but I was in no humour for 
them. I began to be discouraged. I read ; I 
worked ; days were occupied in writing ; all these 
things made the time pass insensibly." 

This page of the Memoir es permits a glimpse of 

' The account of the entry of Mademoiselle is in the Archives of the 
Chateau of Eu. 



170 Louis XIV. and 

a rather restricted life. A letter from Mademoi- 
seile to Bussy-Rabutin confirms and accentuates 
the impression : 

Eu, November 28, 1663. 
Here is the single response to your letters. I claim that you 
should write four to my one, and I believe that this will be 
better for you; for what can one send from a desert like this, 
in which one sees no one all winter, the roads being impracti- 
cable for people from a distance, from Paris for instance, and 
the winds being so strong on the plains through which neigh- 
bours must pass that the north-west wind is feared by all as 
a furious beast. 

The situation of the Chateau d'Eu is melancholy- 
enough, the sea wind truly " ferocious " in the en- 
virons. The gazettes from Paris were filled with 
descriptions of fetes and visions of glory, which 
contrasted with the mediocrity of a provincial court. 
Mademoiselle had in vain decided not to be bored. 
She discovered that she, like the rest of France, 
had no life far from the King ; there was nothing 
left but shadow. 

In the memorable conversation In which Louis 
XIV. avowed to his mother that he was no longfer 
master of his passions, Anne of Austria had warned 
him that he was "too intoxicated with his own 
grandeur."^ She spoke truly; the infatuation had 
been rapid. The excuse for the King was the fact 
that the entire world shared in his self-admiration. 
It is not our plan to give any account of the in- 
ternal government, or of diplomatic action, which 
relates to the early attempts of Louis XIV., so 

1 Motteville. 




JEAN BAPTISTE COLBERT 
After the painting by Champaign 



La Grande Mademoiselle 171 

fruitful in great results and so glorious for himself. 
We limit ourselves to stating the fact. The superi- 
ority of France is manifested in the first contact 
with England and Spain, and was not less clearly- 
felt on the other side of the Rhine. Louis, says a 
German historian, possessed an influence in the 
German Empire, at least in its western portions, 
equal if not superior to the authority of the 
Emperor. -^ 

Strangers were almost always struck by the 
solicitude of his government for artisans and com- 
mercial people. 

Without doubt, sentimental reasons did not count 
for much ; when Colbert forbade the collectors of 
taxes to take the cattle from the labourers, he was 
simply applying in the name of the King the prin- 
ciples of a good business man who considers his 
debtor. But the benefit was no less great. From 
whatever point of view one looked, France gave to 
other nations the impression of a progressive peo- 
ple. It was recognised that she had taken the 
position of head of Europe. The country at large 
felt this. It very justly considered this upward 
flight due to the personal efforts of its young King, 
and was grateful for his enormous labour. 

Louis well understood this. It was a " party 
cry" to insist on all occasions upon the trouble 
which he took in his " trade of King " and the great 
fatigues which he endured for the public good. 
The Gazette^ as an official journal, never failed to 

' Histoire de France, by Leopold Ranke. 



172 Louis XIV. and 

emphasise this. Every event was coloured to 
this end. 

Apropos of a trip of eight days, the journal 
wrote ^ : " This Prince, as indefatigable as Hercules 
in his labours," etc. It justified the royal ballets, 
which were most costly, by the excuse of the ex- 
cessive brain work of the chief of state. 

*' On the eighth [January, 1663], the King, 
wearied with the pains with which His Majesty 
works so indefatigably for the welfare of his sub- 
jects, enjoyed in the palace of the Cardinal the 
diversion of a ballet of seven acts, called the Ballet 
des Arts.'' 

Louis XIV. danced in th.^. Ballet des Arts three 
times; Miles, de Valliere, de Sevigne, and de Morte- 
mart had a lively success in it ; the latter was on 
the eve of becoming Mme. de Montespan.^ The 
accounts of the representations of the new ballet 
alternate in the Gazette with the funeral ceremonies 
in honour of a daughter of the King and Queen, 
who died at six weeks of age on December 30th. 

Louis XIV. had wept over his loss with that 
superficial sensibility in which he resembles, strange 
as it seems, the philosophers of the seventeenth 
century. He could have given points to Diderot 
in regard to the facility of pouring out torrents of 
tears, and he often astonished the Court by his 
emotion. He deceived the Queen from morning 
till evening, and he cried to see her weep when he 

' Numdro of September 14, 1663. 

''' The marriage took place on January 28th. 







^ H- 



La Grande Mademoiselle 173 

quitted her. He brought forth crocodile tears for 
the death of his father-in-law.^ In a turn of the 
hand, again like Diderot, he forgot his existence, 
and lost on his account neither a step in the dance 
nor a galant rendezvous. 

To the ballet succeeded other " relaxations," and 
it is curious to see the Gazette taking the pains to 
explain that the King had well earned a simple 
trip for pleasure (April 7, 1663): " This week the 
King, in order to gain some relief from the con- 
tinual application for the establishing the felicity 
of his subjects, has enjoyed the diversion of a 
little journey to Saint-Germain-en-Laye and to 
Versailles." 

The mundane chronicles^ falling into line, Louis 
XIV. saw his "glory " as a great worker ascending 
into the clouds, together with his "glory" as a 
man of war, and in one word as 'universal hero." 
He could not even exercise his musketeers with- 
out the Gazettes issuing an extra leaf upon the 
"admiration of all spectators."^ 

All France struck the same note. When he went 
to take possession of Dunkerque,* he passed before 
a plaster Olympus, fabricated for the occasion. 
" He witnessed Neptune, who respectfully lowered 

' Philippe IV. died September 17, 1665. 

^ Cf. La Relation des Divertissements que le Roi a donnh aux Reinesy etc, 
by Marigny (June, 1664). 

^ Number of July, 21, 1663, &\\di passit?i. 

* Louis XIV. had bought Dunkerque from the King of England. The 
city was delivered November 27, 1662. For account of the entrance of the 
King, see the Gazette. 



174 Louis XIV. and 

his trident ; the spirits of the Earth and Sea pro- 
strated before this mighty Prince " — that is to say, 
himself, and he permitted his official journal to re- 
gale the country with these follies ; it was clear in 
his eyes that Neptune and. his Court only did their 
duty. Every one was prepared to deify him, and 
he received this homage with pleasure. This at- 
mosphere of worship was very harmful to a man 
born with much good sense and with many superior 
parts. The brilliancy of his Court, for which he 
was considered responsible, contributed also to the 
general dazzle. 

The surging crowd of twenty years later did 
not yet exist, when the Chateau of Versailles was 
finished, and Louis XIV. held his nobility lodged 
under his own hand,^ only moving from his side to 
make a campaign. The young Court was only 
numerous at intervals. It will shortly be seen how 
much it had increased in May, 1664. On the 27th 
of the following month, the Due d'Enghien wrote 
from Fontainbleau : " There are almost no women 
here, and but few men. Never has the Court been 
so small." ^ On August i6th, also at Fontainbleau, 
the Queen Mother gave a ball ; she had only sixteen 
ladies and as many men.^ In October, the Court 
is at Paris, and the King gives a fete: "The ball 
was not fine," writes the grand Conde, "the greater 

' Louis XIV. was installed at Versailles, as a residence, May 6, 1682. 

^ Letter to the Queen of Poland, Marie de Gonzague (Archives of Chan- 
tilly). The Due d'Enghien had married, December 11, 1663, Anne de 
Bariere, daughter of the Princess Palatine and niece of Marie de Gonzague. 

•* yonrnal d ' Olivier d ' Ormesson. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 175 

number of the ladies being still in the country. In 
all Paris, only fourteen could be found." ^ 

During these first years, the nobility was not yet 
encouraged to leave all, to come to live under the 
shadow of the throne. Those having provincial 
charges " obtained with difficulty leave of absence." ^ 
Those lacking money to appear with fitting mag- 
nificence had little aid to expect from royalty ; the 
shower of gold did not begin to fall until later, and 
Louis XIV. even passed for being close-fisted. 

*' Besides his natural temperament," said Conde, 
" which is not given to lavishness, he is held back 
by M. Colbert, who is still less given to spending, 
particularly when he is not persuaded of the ad- 
vantage of the affair for which money must be scat- 
tered."^ It is well known that Colbert did not love 
waste ; but he did know how to be liberal, even for 
expenses of luxury. No one was more convinced 
of the advantage of display for a sovereign, and he 
spared neither pains nor state pennies in making 
the grand festivals with which his master enter- 
tained the Court and city, unrivalled in Europe. 
And they were unparalleled, especially in the early 
years when tastes, like everything else, were young. 
Even the faults, by which perhaps the tastes were 
benefited, were youthful. 

What is called impulse with the very young man 

' Letter of October 31st to the Queen of Poland (Archives of Chantilly). 

"^ Cf. De La Valliere a Montespan, by Jean Lemoine and Andre Lichten- 
berger. 

'* Letter dated December 28, 1663, to the Queen of Poland (Archives of 
Chantilly). 



176 Louis XIV. and 

takes the name of vice with the mature, and, what- 
ever may be said, the one is much ugher than the 
other. 

Louis XIV. was only twenty-three when he fell 
in love with Mile, de La Valliere, and the festivities 
which he offered in her honour expressed this fresh- 
ness. There were exquisite fairy scenes with the 
light decorations of flowers and leaves. The most 
famous, on account of Moliere's partial authorship, 
was called the Plaisirs de V He enchantie, which 
was given at Versailles in May, 1664. It lasted 
three days, and was prolonged three days more, in 
spite of the great number of invitations and the 
difficulties occasioned by the immense crowd. The 
Court, says a " Relation," ^ arrived the fifth of 
May, and the King entertained till the fourteenth 
six hundred guests, beside a quantity of people 
needed for the dance and comedy, and of artisans 
of all sorts from Paris, so numerous that it appeared 
a small army. 

All now known of Versailles must be forgotten if 
we wish to picture it in 1664. Versailles was then 
a small village surrounded on three sides by fields 
and marshes.^ The fourth side was occupied by a 
chateau which would have been spacious for a pri- 
vate person, but which meant little for a court ; 
a few dependencies ; the beginning of a garden 
planted by Le Notre. That was all. 

' See the Moliere of the Grands Ecrivains, v. , iv. 

"^ See the contemporary engravings. Some reproductions will be found 
in the beautiful work of M. de Nolhac, La Creation de Versailles. 





O .-;: 



X 


tJ] 


\- 


— 


u. 

o 


oj 


^ 


M 


UJ 


S 


> 


U 



La Grande Mademoiselle i77 

Colbert considered Versailles already too large, 
as soon as Louis XIV. decided to offer anything 
more to his guests than the four walls of their cham- 
bers. It will be remembered^ that when Mademoi- 
selle came to Saint-Germain to visit the Queen 
Mother she brought her own furniture and cook. 
Not even food was provided. This was the 
general rule. 

Louis XIV. aspired to great hospitality, and com- 
menced his reform at Versailles. " What is very 
peculiar in this house," wrote Colbert in 1663, "is 
that his Majesty has desired all apartments given 
to guests to be furnished. He also orders every one 
to be fed and provided with all necessities, even to 
the wood and candles in the chambers, which has 
never been the custom in royal establishments." 

Colbert was evidently in a bad humour. There 
were, however, but few apartments to offer in the 
Chateau of Versailles ; the 600 guests soon per- 
ceived this fact themselves. 

The journal of Olivier d'Ormesson contains on 
the date of May 13 the following lines: "This 
same day, Mme. de Sevigne has related to us the 
diversions of Versailles, which have lasted from 
Wednesday till Sunday^: courses of bague, ballets, 
comedies, fireworks, and other beautiful inventions ; 
but all the courtiers were enraged, for the King 
took no care of them, and Monsieurs de Guise and 

' See the Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle. 

2 From the 7th to the iith of May, the first two days and the last two 
not counted. 



178 Louis XIV. and 

d'Elbeuf could hardly find a hole in which to shel- 
ter themselves." It is to be noted that the Due de 
Guise must costume himself and all his lackeys. 

The theme of the fete had been drawn from Roland 
furieux, and had been made to accord with up-to- 
date episodes, by a courtier expert in this kind of 
work, the Due de Saint-Aignan. During three 
days and three nights, a volunteer company, com- 
posed of Louis XIV., Moliere, and the greatest 
nobles of France, with the prettiest actresses of 
Paris, embellished the imaginations of Ariosto, in 
the presence of two queens and of an immense 
Court which seemed, says the Gazette, to have 
"exhausted the Indies"^ in order to cover itself 
with precious stones. Halls of verdure, arches 
of flowers, and the vault of heaven formed the 
frame in which deployed the mythological pro- 
cessions, the games of chivalry, the ballets, the 
festivities for the " little army," and the first two 
representations of Moliere, of which one was to be 
the striking literary event of the century. In the 
evening, lamps hung upon the trees were lighted 
and the fete continued during the night. Gentle 
and tender music softened this apotheosis of love, 
of which the heroine — and this gave an added 
charm — remained hidden in the crowd ; Louise de 
La Valliere was still neither " recognised " nor 
duchess. 

The first of the great days of the f^te was 

' Number of February 3, 1663, apropos of a ball given at the Louvre by 
the King on January 31st. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 179 

open to all. The King of France and the flower 
of the nobility as Paladins of Charlemagne, clothed 
and armed " a la grecque," according to the seven- 
teenth century ideas of local colour, took part in a 
tournament before a sumptuous assembly who, at 
the appearance of the master, uttered " cries of joy 
and admiration ." ^ 

Louis XIV. sought these exhibitions He shone 
in them and attributed to them an importance 
which in his Memoir es he explains to his son. He 
believed them very efficacious for binding together 
the affections of the people, above all those of high 
rank, and the sovereign. The populace have al- 
ways loved spectacles, and for the nobility, the 
more closely the King keeps it at Court, the more 
pains he must take to show that there is no aver- 
sion between sovereign and subject, but simply 
a question of reason and duty. Nothing serves 
better for this than carrousels and other diversions 
of the same nature : " This society of pleasure, 
which gives to the courtiers an honest familiarity 
with us, touches and charms them more than can 
be told." 

The partakers in the "Tournament" of 1664 
had in reality been very proud of the honour done 
them. They appeared covered with gold, silver, 
and jewelry, escorted by pages and gentlemen gal- 
lantly equipped. After them, defiled allegorical 

^ For this portion, see the Gazette of May 17th, the letters from Loret of 
the loth and 17th, various Relations du temps, the Moliere of the Grands 
Kcrivains , etc. 



i8o Louis XIV. and 

chariots, personages of fable, and strange animals, 
Moliere as the god Pan, one of his comrades 
mounted upon an elephant, another upon a camel. 

At the supper in the open air, which terminated 
the day, the royal table was served by the corps de 
ballet, who, dancing and whirling bore in the differ- 
ent dishes. The cavaliers of the tournament, with 
their helmets covered with feathers of various col- 
ours, and wearing the mantles of the course, stood 
erect behind the guests. Two hundred masks, 
bearing torches of white wax illumined this admir- 
able living picture, worthy of the great poet who 
inspired it. 

The next day was occupied in giving to the two 
hundred guests a lesson in natural philosophy, no 
longer symbolical and veiled, but clear and direct ; 
it was perfectly comprehended and the spectators 
were convinced. The lesson was from Moliere, 
who had written his Princesse cf Elide ^ In the de- 
sign well formed of " celebrating " and " justifying" 
the loves of the King and La Valliere. The R^cit 
de V Aurore will be recalled which opens the piece. 

Dans I'age oti Ton est amiable, 
Rien n'est si beau que d'aimer. 

Soupirer librement pour un amant fidele, 
Et braver ceux qui voudraient vous blamer. 

It will also be recollected that the five acts which 
follow are only the development, full of Insistence, 
of that invitation to the ladies of the Court not to 

' Louise de La Valli}re, by J. Lair, 



:-«|.(f ?, 



4^\ 



JEAN BAPTISTE POQUELIN MOLItRE 
After the painting by Noel Coypel 



La Grande Mademoiselle 



i«i 



merit the " name of cruel." After serious affairs, 
innocent pleasures followed, the most applauded of 
which was a piece of fireworks which embraced 
"the heavens, the earth, and the waters." 

Every one was already thinking- of departure, 
when on Monday, May 12th, Moli^re presented the 
first act of Tartuffe. 

The connivance of the King appears well estab- 
lished. Father Rapin relates that the *' sect of the 
Divots " had, since the time of Mazarin, rendered 
itself so insupportable by its indiscreet advice, that 
the King, "in order to ridicule them, had permitted 
Moliere to represent them on the stage." The 
Ddvots had seen the blow coming, and did their best 
to avoid it ; the annals of the Compagnie du Saint 
Sacrement affirm this.^ They report that there 
was " strong talk " in the seance of April 1 7th, in 
the attempt to accomplish the suppression of the 
wicked comedy Tartuffe. 

Each member of the Compagnie charged himself 
to speak to any friends who had credit at Court, 
" begging aid in preventing its representation." 
The effort was vain. Tartzffe was acted. The 
spectators divined without difficulty whom Moliere 
had in view, and the Ddvots heard with emotion 
this openly significant expression of contempt of 
religious forms, in less than one week after the 
Princesse d Elide had thrown its weight upon the 
side of questionable morals. 

From the point of view of a general principle, 

' See La Cabale des Divots, by M. Raoul Allier. 



i82 Louis XIV. and 

the two pieces naturally followed each other ; they 
were two chapters of the same gospel. The King 
had the air of being about to pass to the enemy 
and of uniting himself with the Libertins. The 
Cabal made a desperate effort and Tartuffe was 
forbidden ; at the same time no one imagined that 
the battle was terminated. 

An extraordinary agitation around the King 
mig"ht have been seen during the weeks which fol- 
lowed the fetes of Versailles. The Court at once 
departed for Fontainbleau ; the two parties dis- 
puted the entire summer over the young monarch. 

Louis himself had skirmished with both. The 
King felt at the same time a personal revolt against 
the constraints of the Church, and the need of a 
politic catholicity which would sustain the practices 
of religion for State reasons, because he could not 
do without their aid. These two fashions of think- 
ing can easily be accommodated together, and the 
King was in train to learn how to do this. After 
a little delay, the conciliation between the two 
points of view was completed in his mind. 

While waitlngf, he lived in the midst of floods of 
tears. The summer was a very troubled one. 

Such events held the attention of Paris, but the 
poor Mademoiselle, forgotten in the Chateau d'Eu, 
fretted so much that at length her pride was con- 
quered. " Upon the news of the pregnancy of the 
Queen," says the Mhnoires, " I decided to write, 
dreaming that perhaps the King wished to be be- 
sought," and she abased herself to do this. She at 



La Grande Mademoiselle 183 

first expressed the hope that the child might be a 
son. " I exaggerated with good faith the desire 
which I had, and I showed the grief I felt in being 
forced to remain so long without the honour of see- 
ing him [the King]. I said everything I could to 
oblige him to permit me to return." 

She wrote at the same time to Colbert, who was 
considered the powerful man of the ministry : 

Eu, March 23, 1664. 

Monsieur Colbert : 

In bearing testimony to the King of the joy which I have 
in the pregnancy of the Queen, I am daring to command his 
good graces, and the permission for an audience to ask them 
in person. 

I trust that you will assist me with your good offices to ob- 
tain so precious a favour. If I cannot succeed in obtaining 
this, I beg to be permitted to pass through Paris before May,^ 
having three considerable lawsuits at this date. I look, on 
this occasion, for the continuation of your good offices. 

Anne-Marie-Louise d'Orlieans. 

The King waited two months before responding : 

to my cousin mademoiselle, eldest daughter of the 

late MONSEIGNEUR dug d' ORLEANS 

My Cousin : 

It consoles me much to find you in the state of mind 
which your letter shows. I willingly forget the past and 
permit you not only to pass through Paris, but also either to 
dwell there, or to choose any other place of residence which 
may be agreeable to you, and even to come here in case you 
wish it, if you assure me that your conduct will always give 
me reason for cherishing you and for treating you properly as 
a personage so nearly related. 

* A doubtful phrase. 



184 Louis XIV. and La Grande Mademoiselle 

I thank you for the affection with which you write to me 
of the Queen's pregnancy and pray, etc. 

Louis. 

Some days later Mademoiselle was en route for 
Fontainbleau, well resolved to show herself. She 
was transported with joy at having recovered lib- 
erty of movement, but the Court at this time in- 
spired her with terror. The ground had become 
too slippery for a person of her temperament, 
loving so much her independence and rebellious to 
all discipline. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Increasing Importance of the Affairs of Love — The Corrupters of Morals — 
Birth of Dramatic Music and its Influence — Love in Racine — 
Louis XIV, and the Nobility — The King is Polygamous. 

IT was neither through compassion nor through 
friendship that Louis XIV. had recalled from 
exile a second time his cousin Mile, de Montpensier. 
He had renounced the idea of marrying her to 
Alphonse VI. since she persisted in her refusal, but 
he pursued the plan of giving her in marriage 
"where it would be useful to his service." 

And there was reason for entertaining another 
project. While she was in penitence at Eu, one of 
the little sisters, Mile, de Valois, had married the 
Due de Savoie, Charles Emmanuel II., and had 
died (January 14, 1664), at the end of some months 
of wedded life. The widowhood of princes is 
rarely a matter of long duration. The King had 
immediately arranged to offer the millions of the 
Grande Mademoiselle to the Due de Savoie, it be- 
ing of first importance to bring back this territory to 
France, and to recompense the King of Portugal 
by giving him one of the princesses of Nemours.^ 

' The Miles, de Nemours were daughters of Elisabeth de Vendome, sis- 
ter of the Due de Beaufort, and of Henri de Savoie, Due de Nemours, 
who was killed in a duel by his brother-in-law (July 30, 1652), The 
younger sister married Alphonse VI. June 28, 1666. 

185 



1 86 Louis XIV. and 

The new combination was well known in the 
political world. One reads in the journal of Oli- 
vier d'Ormesson on the date of June 4, 1664: 
" M. Le Pelletier^ tells me of the return of Mile. 
d'Orleans, and that the King had written to her 
with his own hand, permitting her to come back, 
without saying anything to the Queen Mother ; but 
this was with the Savoie marriage in sight." Louis 
XIV. had not resigned himself without effort to 
the idea of procuring so fine an establishment for 
an ancient Frondeuse. It may be seen through a 
letter from the grand Conde to the Queen of Po- 
land that the royal rancour had yielded for reasons 
of State : 

FONTAINBLEAU, June 3, 1664. 
Mademoiselle having written to the King about the preg- 
nancy of the Queen, his Majesty has himself responded, which 
is a mark of softened feelings, and every one believes that she 
will return and that his Majesty will consent to her marriage 
with M. de Savoie, which up to this time he has not desired, 
because he preferred that of Mile. d'Alen9on\- but as she is 
very ugly, and as an additional distinction is badly marked 
with small-pox, he has reason to believe that M. de Savoie will 
not be willing to espouse her ; and he fears that there may be 
a question of a union with the Austrian House, and thus 1 be- 
lieve, in spite of his own dislikes, he will wish to hasten the 
marriage of Mademoiselle which, however, is not so certain as 
it appears.' 

There was no danger of pouts in regard to this 

1 Claude Le Pelletier, then President of Inquests. After, he was Minis- 
ter of State and Controller-General of Finances. 

' Mile. d'Alen9on, the second of the half-sisters of Mademoiselle. 
* Archives de Chantilly, 



La Grande Mademoiselle 187 

prospective husband ; this the King well under- 
stood. Mademoiselle arrived at Fontainbleau dur- 
ing the first fortnight of June, 1664. The entire 
Court had met her upon the highway. 

Mademoiselle was the first to whom the King 
had yielded since assuming the reins of government. 
This was a glory ; she, indeed, felt it and held her 
head high. Louis XIV. had the good taste to 
ignore this attitude. He greeted her graciously 
and limited his vengance to teasing her during the 
few days she passed with him. " Confess," said he 
to her, " that you are very bored." She cried, " I 
assure you not at all, and I often think that the 
Court is very much deceived if it believes me dis- 
enchanted, for I have not experienced a moment's 
dulness." 

The King, however, believed only what pleased 
him. One evening, after the play, he led her upon 
a little terrace and spoke in these terms : " The 
past must be forgotten. Be persuaded that you 
will receive all good treatment from me in the 
future, and that I am contemplating your establish- 
ment. Naturally, M. de Savoie is a better niatch 
than formerly ; his mother is dead. He will recog- 
nise the difference between your sister and yourself. 
Thus you will be very happy and I shall work seri- 
ously to accomplish this." The King's discourse 
was followed by an exchange of effusions. " We 
embraced each other, my cousin and I," said the 
King in reappearing before his Court, and the 
signal word was at once comprehended. 



1 88 Louis XIV. and 

The Grande Mademoiselle passed an almost 
triumphal week at Fontainbleau. The repose of 
provincial life was hard to bear in comparison. The 
King, the ministers, and the ambassadors all worked 
for the marriage. There was nothing to do but to 
leave them to act. Mademoiselle wished to aid. 
To commence she undertook to reduce to silence 
the old Madame, who was outraged by her eagerness 
to replace her younger sister. 

Dissatisfactions grew into quarrels and Louis 
XIV. was forced to intervene, and to silence all 
these women. He wrote to Mademoiselle : 



to my cousin 

My Cousin: 

I cannot prevent my aunt's people from talking, but I 
hardly believe that she would say that I have promised her 
protection against you. 

I love you and consider you, as much as the most pressing 
desires which pass through your brain are capable of inspiring 
me, and assuredly it is my intention to give you pleasure in 
every degree possible. I only avow that you can do much on 
your part in facilitating things a little; this is my only request, 
and having nothing to add to so sincere an explanation of my 
sentiments, I finish this letter, praying God, etc. 

Written at Fontainbleau, July 12, 1664. 

Signed: Louis. ' 

It was beyond the strength of Mademoiselle to 
abstain from interference. Her anxiety to be the fly 
on the wheel drew upon her a new letter from the 
King. The tone is that of a very impatient man. 

' CEuvres de Louis XIV. Lettres particular es, Paris, 1806. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 189 

to my cousin 

My Cousin: 

I see clearly by your last letter that you are not accu- 
rately informed of what is passing in Piedmont; for I have 
been obliged to be very badly satisfied with my ambassador, 
in that he has executed my orders with so much warmth that 
the Due de Savoie complains through his despatches to Count 
Carrocio of apparently being forced into an action which 
should be the freest, even to the smallest particular. Judge by 
this fact if the conduct proposed and suggested to you is wise ? 

I perceive even malice in those who give you such advice; 
for their desire is to put you in such a state of mind that if the 
affair fail it is I who am to blame. 

I see that you are already persuaded that success depends 
upon my simple wish expressing my desire on one side or the 
other, but I am not resolved to conduct myself according to 
the caprices of those people. 

I have told you that I sincerely wish your satisfaction and I 
again affirm it. The friendship alone which I have for you 
would give me this feeling, and I realise also that the scheme 
is beneficial for me. 

You must not doubt, therefore, that I will do all which will 
be really useful in furthering the affair; as for the means, it is 
not too much to say that I see better what should be done than 
those who speak and write to you. However, I pray God, etc. 

At Vincennes, September 2, 1664. 

Signed; Louis. 

The King spoke the truth : the Due de Savoie 
did not want the Grande Mademoiselle. Charles 
Emmanuel had never digested the affront received 
upon the journey to Lyons, from which he had seen 
his sister return Duchess of Parma when he had 
imagined to receive her as Queen of France.^ He 

' Z' ambassadeur de la Fuente au roi d'Espagne; Paris, January 27, 1664. 
(Archives de la Bastile.) The Princesse de Savoie refused by Louis XIV: 
had decided to marry the Due de Parma. 



iQo Louis XIV. and 

was not averse to revenorinor himself on Louis XIV. 
by refusing a princess of his family whose age above 
all " made him afraid, for he desired children."^ 

He had also an account to regulate with Made- 
moiselle, who had disdained him at the time in which 
she was young and beautiful. At this distant date, 
Charles Emmanuel, although her junior by seven- 
teen years, had not concealed the fact that he would 
have been ready to marry her, " so much did he 
esteem her person and also her great wealth."^ 

But it was with the Due de Savoie as with the 
Prince of Wales, and later with the Prince de 
Lorraine : 

Quoi ? moi! quoi ? ces gens-1^! Ton radote, je pense, 
A moi les proposer! helas! ils font pitie: 
Voyez un peu la belle espece.^ 

Having become less exacting with years, Made- 
moiselle at length found a man who did not disdain 
to play the part of substitute for his betters. 

The Duke remained firm, and it was again a 
Nemours,^ sister of the Queen of Portugal, who 
inherited the husband destined for the Grande 
Mademoiselle. 

Equally difficult, the same fate fell upon Made- 
moiselle as upon the marriageable daughter in 
La Fontaine : she was to be reduced to wed a cadet 

' M^moires de Mine, de Motteville. 

''The Archbishop of Embrun to Father Brienne; Turin Aug. i, 1659. 

' La Fontaine : La jFille, fable, published for the first time in the edition 
1679. 

* Marie-Jeanne-Baptiste de Nemours married Charles Emmanuel II., May 
ir, 1665. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 191 

of Gascony, the tnalotru of the fable. I believe 
that La Fontaine had Mademoiselle in his mind 
when writing La Fille. It has been queried 
whether this subject was not borrowed from the 
Epigram of Martial. There is no need for so dis- 
tant a search. On July 8, 1664, La Fontaine had 
been appointed "gentleman-in-waiting to the dow- 
ager Duchesse d' Orleans."^ He was, therefore, in 
a position to be well informed concerning the pro- 
jects for marriage which failed, and the ridiculous 
actions of the daughter of the house. We possess 
his confidences upon the household of the Lux- 
embourg, on the one side of the apartments of 
Madame, on the other those of Mademoiselle, in 
an epistle dedicated to Mignon, the little dog of his 
mistress. 

For La Fontaine, the Luxembourg was the 
palace in which there was no place for lovers. The 
tender passion was forbidden chez Madame, where 
it was necessary to be contented with the " pious 
smiles" of Mme. de Crisse, the original of the 
Countess de Pimbesche, and to bear in mind the 
presence of an old Capuchin become Bishop of 
Bethleem in Nivernais,'^ who supervised the conver- 
sations. " Speak low," says the letter Pour Mzgnojt. 

Si I'eveque de Bethleem 
Nous entendait, Dieu sait la vie. 

There was not even the resource of fleeing to 
the " Divinity" opposite. Under that shelter, lovers 

' And not Madame Henrietta, as has been said in error. 
* Bethleem was a suburb of Clamecy. 



192 Louis XIV. and 

were less well regarded year by year, and La Fon- 
taine divined why : the antipathy always evinced 
by Mademoiselle was now doubled by envy. 

The check in regard to the Savoie marriage had 
brought on a painful crisis in the life of this poor 
unattached heroine. For the first time, she had 
been made to feel that she had passed the mar- 
riageable age, and she was one of those unfor- 
tunates who cannot easily resign themselves to the 
fall from the purely feminine portion of existence. 

The revolt against nature frequently causes 
whimsicalities ; a terrible injustice toward those 
doleful creatures who often have asked no better 
than to obey nature's laws in becoming wives and 
mothers. Nervous maladies give to the soul-tragedy 
a burlesque outside, and the world laughs without 
comprehending. Mademoiselle was one of these 
unfortunates. La Fontaine had well discovered it 
when he wrote : 

Son miroir lui disait: " Prenez vite un mari." 
Je ne sais quel desir le lui disait aussi: 
Le desir peut loger chez une precieuse. 

It is very difficult to relate the decline of the 
Grande Mademoiselle without provoking a smile 
at least, and it would be a pity, however, if this 
proud figure should leave the even slight impression 
of that of Belise. She was left disabled, without 
aim in life, at the very moment in which women 
in general were being excluded from action, after 
having been slightly intoxicated with power under 



La Grande Mademoiselle 193 

Anne of Austria. Men had at that time encour- 
aged women to enter Into public life. Thanks to 
masculine complicity, feminine Influence and power 
had mounted high, and the weaker sex enjoyed one 
of the most romantic moments of Its entire history. 

The habit of treating women as the equals of 
men had been fully formed when the will of a 
monarch who distrusted them precipitated the sex 
from Its giddy height. 

It has been seen a propos of La Valllere with 
what contempt Louis XIV. spoke of women In his 
Mdmoires. Upon this subject he had truly Orien- 
tal Ideas, approaching those held by his Spanish 
ancestors, inherited by them from the Moors. 
Louis could not do without women, but he wanted 
them only for amusement. He did not really be- 
lieve them capable of giving anything else, judging 
them inferior and dangerous, perhaps in remem- 
brance of Marie Mancini, who had almost enticed 
him into a crime against royalty. 

Hardly had the King come to power when all 
who had issued from their sphere must re-enter it. 
Love was the only affair of importance in which 
women were permitted to share. Louis XIV. made 
no exception In favour of his mistresses. Mme. de 
Montespan tyrannised a little over him in spite of his 
fine theories. The others, however, were looked upon 
onl)^ in the light of beautiful and amusing creatures. 

When, towards the end of the reign, Mme. de 
Maintenon had the glory of again raising the sex to 
the position of being esteemed by the King, she 



194 Louis XIV. and 

alone benefited. In general, nothing was gained for 
women at large ; the impression in regard to their 
true position had been too deep. Suddenly re- 
duced to an existence with a narrow horizon, women 
found it colourless and mean. They demanded love, 
since this was all that was left to them to supply 
those violent emotions to which they had become 
accustomed in the camps and councils. As the re- 
sult of this new attitude many strange events oc- 
curred, but they were little noticed as long as the 
Queen Mother remained of this world. Anne of 
Austria succeeded in saving appearances, if in no- 
thing else. Once dead, there came the downfall, 
and strange things became frightful ones. 

It was at Versailles in the midst of the Bengal 
fires of the " lie enchantee" that the Queen Mother 
felt the first pangs of the cancer which finally caused 
her death. 

Paris followed with grief the course of her ill- 
ness. Anne of Austria, remaining without influence, 
had again become popular. " She preserves har- 
mony," wrote d'Ormesson, " and although she can- 
not be credited with much good, she still prevents 
much that is evil" (June 5, 1665). It is known 
that it was owing to her that a certain decency was 
maintained at the Court of France ; that without 
her, Louis XIV. and his sister-in-law Henrietta 
would not have perceived in time that they already 
cared too much for each other and that the rumour 
of this was "making much noise at Court." ^ 

' Mme. de La Fayette, Histoire de Madame Hettriette. 




MADAME HENRIETTE D'ORLEANS 

From the painting by Mignard in the National Portrait Gallery 

(Photograph by Walker, London) 



La Grande Mademoiselle 195 

The Queen Mother was forced to open eyes 
which wished to remain closed. She had spoken 
frankly, and her plainness had perhaps saved the 
kingdom of France from an ineffaceable stain. 
Such service cannot be forgotten by honest people. 
To gratitude was added a sincere admiration for 
her courage under suffering. The poor woman 
endured without complaint, and with an incredible 
tranquillity, nine months of sharp pain increased by 
the barbarous remedies applied by a crowd of 
quacks. 

In the royal family, the sentiments were mixed. 
Louis XIV., as Mme. de Motteville had well re- 
marked, was a man full of "contradictions." He 
cherished his mother. During a previous malady, 
a short time before the cancer declared itself, he 
had cared for her night and day with a devotion 
and also a skill which astonished the attendants. 

The thought of now losing her gave him seasons 
of stifling sobs. At the same time, his mother was 
a little too much of a personage. She troubled 
him by her clairvoyance. He experienced a cer- 
tain relief at the knowledge that the time was 
approaching when she would no longer be able to 
watch his course of life. In all probability, he was 
himself ignorant of this feeling, but it was apparent 
to observers. When she was actually dying, affec- 
tion bore away all other considerations, and the 
King almost fainted. Hardly was she interred 
when the pleasure of feeling himself entirely free 
again became ascendant. 



196 Louis XIV. and 

The attachment of Monsieur for his mother was 
his best emotion. His grief possessed no hidden 
rehef and forced him to be always near the in- 
vaHd's bed. " The odour was so frightful," reports 
Mademoiselle, " that after seeing the wound dressed 
it was Impossible to sup." Monsieur passed all his 
time In the chamber and tried to demonstrate his 
tenderness. Sometimes most ridiculous Ideas oc- 
curred to him ; but he was not the less touching, 
through his never-failing tears, on account of his 
sincerity. 

At length, Anne of Austria herself sent her son 
away. Monsieur returned to his pleasures and 
forgot his grief in them ; he would not have been 
Philippe Due d'Anjou If he had acted differently. 
When the end drew near, timid and submissive as 
he was, he would not be sent away. The King 
withdrew, obeying the custom which forbids princes, 
as formerly gods, to witness death. Louis twice 
told his brother not to remain longer, and only re- 
ceived the response " that he could not obey him in 
this, but he promised that It was the only point, 
during his entire life, on which he would ever 
disobey." ^ 

A cry of Monsieur piercing the walls announced 
to Louis that the end had come. 

The young Queen Marle-Therese, who was losing 
all, justified the reputation of " fool " which the 
Court gave her. She permitted herself to be per- 
suaded that her position would be made higher, 

' M/moires de Mme. de Motteville, 



La Grande Mademoiselle 197 

through all the privileges left to her by the death 
of the Queen Mother, and she was more than half 
consoled by this chimera. 

Mademoiselle scrupulously observed the proprie- 
ties ; which is all that can be said. Anne of Austria 
had emphasised in a solemn hour the tenacity of 
the rancour against her niece. The evening before 
death, she took farewell of all. Two only appeared 
forgotten ; " I was astonished, after all that had 
passed," relates Mademoiselle, " that she did not 
say a word to M. le Prince or to me, who were 
both there, especially slighting me who was brought 
up near her." It was precisely on account of "all 
that had passed." Anne of Austria gave a good ex- 
ample to the King : she expired without pardon- 
ing the leaders of the Fronde. 

Great changes followed this death. Louis XIV. 
lost his mother January 20, 1660; on the 27th of 
the same month, a deputation came from Parliament 
" to pay their compliments to the King." D'Or- 
messon was of this body. " I went afterwards," 
says his Journal, "to mass with the King, at which 
there were present the Queen, M. le Dauphin, Mon- 
sieur and Mile, de La Valliere, whom the Queen 
has taken near her, through complaisance for the 
King, in which she shows her wisdom." Louis 
XIV. officially presented his mistress to the people, 
and assigned her rank immediately below that of 
his legitimate wife. During his mother's life he 
would not have dared to do this. 

Two months later he was delivered from the 



198 Louis XIV. and 

Cabale des Divots, and from its intrusive observa- 
tions, through the disappearance of the Compagnie 
du Saint Sacrement. It does not appear impossible 
that the death of the Queen may have slightly 
hastened this event. Anne of Austria had been 
acquainted with the society for a long period,-^ and 
had testified for it during many years of absolute 
devotion. She had guarded it from Mazarin. She 
did more : there is proof that she deceived her 
minister for the sake of the Compagnie. The sit- 
uation changed with the death of the Cardinal. 
There is nothing to warrant the belief that Anne 
of Austria, whether restrained by fear or by some 
scruple, was willing, after the death of Mazarin, to 
deceive Louis XIV. for the sake of a secret society. 
Actively pursued by Colbert, who divined an 
occult force behind the adversaries to his power, 
the Compagnie fell back upon its habitual pro- 
tector, and had the bitter disappointment of 
beseeching in vain. The devotion of Anne of 
Austria was henceforth to be a silent one. As 
long as she remained on earth, all hope was not 
lost ; she might be brought back to the bosom 
of the fold, and better success might be looked 
for another time. Her death caused the final 
disorganisation. The society had not, during a 
long period, dared to reunite. Deprived of the 
mother of the King, it practically yielded. It dis- 
solves and vanishes into thin air. Its register stops 
April 8, 1666. Have the records of the various 

' See Raoul Allier, La Cabale des Divots. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 199 

prosecutions been destroyed or scattered? Have 
all the documents been destroyed through pru- 
dence ? Suppositions are free. It is with this 
mysterious brotherhood as with those water-courses 
which disappear under the ground. Their traces 
are lost. It even happens that they bear another 
name when they again spring to the surface. Such 
without doubt has been the fate of the " Com- 
pagnie du Saint Sacrement," for the sectarian spirit 
which has been its most significant mark has never 
lost its rights in the land ; in our own days we still 
see it placing itself in France at the service of very 
different schools of thought and belief. 

In this beginning of April (1666) in which the 
Cabale des Ddvots had avowed itself vanquished, 
the Court was struck with the animation of the 
King. 

" A journey was made to Mouchy," wrote Made- 
moiselle, " where three days were passed in reviews. 
The King ordered a quantity of troops to be 
assembled ; he also invited many ladies. All these 
were in mourning. There was much diversion ; 
the King was in gay spirits ; he sang and made 
verses during the progress." Although these were 
not the only ones, Louis did not compose many 
songs during his life. 

He enjoyed feeling free from those wearisome 
persons who had abused the patronage of his 
mother in creatingr themselves censors of their 
sovereign. No one except his confessor and his 
preachers concerned themselves further with his sins. 



200 Louis XIV. and 

When Bossuet and Bourdaloue were appointed 
Court preachers they restrained themselves but lit- 
tle ; but Louis XIV, bore their reproaches with equa- 
nimity. It was their duty, and Christians of that 
date, even bad ones, recognised what they owed to 
the Church, and bent their heads before the pulpit. 
Bossuet cried out in the presence of the entire 
Court that " immoral manners are always bad man- 
ners," and that " there is a God in heaven who 
avenges the sins of the people, and who, above all, 
avenges the sins of Kings." ^ He launched apos- 
trophies at Mile, de La Valliere : " O creatures, 
shameful idols, withdraw from this Court. Shad- 
ows, phantoms, dissipate yourselves in the presence 
of the truth ; false love, deceitful love, canst thou 
stand before it?" 

Bourdaloue, who found Mme. de Montespan in 
the place of Mile, de La Valliere, reproached the 
King for his "debauches," and openly demanded of 
him in his sermon if he had kept his promise of 
rupture : " Have you not again seen this person 
fatal to your firmnesss and constancy ? Have you 
no more sought occasions so dangerous for you ? " 

Mme. de Sevigne went one day to hear him at 
Saint-Germain, where he preached a Lenten ser- 
mon before the King and Queen. She returned 
confounded and angry at his boldness : " We heard 
after dinner the sermon of Bourdaloue, who speaks 
with all his force, launching truths with lowered 
bridle, attacking adultery on every side ; regardless 

' Lenten sermons for the year 1662. 



^^''v^-^ 




^ 



MADAME DE MONTESPAN 
From the engraving by Flameng after the painting by Mignard 



La Grande Mademoiselle 201 

of all, he rides straight on."^ Louis XIV. accepted 
these public reproaches without protest ; there was, 
however, but little result. 

One effect of the death of the Queen Mother 
was that rivals to Mile, de La Valllere were free to 
appear ; also there was a great Increase in the num- 
ber of charlatans and alchemists, who found more 
easily an aristocratic clientele. Diviners and sor- 
cerers also played an Important rdle In the love 
life of this society — the most polished in the world. 

The practice of the magic arts was at that date 
considered one of the most flourishing Parisian In- 
dustries. The Inhabitants of the streets little fre- 
quented, or of the suburbs, were accustomed to the 
movement which took place In the early morning, 
or In the evening at dusk, around certain Isolated 
houses.^ People of all ranks, on foot. In carriages 
or In chairs, women masked or muffled, succeeded 
each other before a closed door, which only opened 
at a particular sign. 

The state of mind which led this crowd to the 
clairvoyant was to be found In all classes of society, 
from the highest to the lowest. Public credulity 
was passing through a period of expansion, ap- 
parently very much at odds with the splendid Intel- 
lect of France at that date, at which, however, those 
who believe the simple formulas of history will not 
be astonished. Two of our grand classic writers 

' Letter of March 29, 1680. 

"^Archives de la Bastille, by Fran9ois Ravaisson, vols, iv., v., and vi., 
passitii . 



202 Louis XIV. and 

have left pages which bear witness to the extent 
of the evil, existing at the very moment in which 
France became the actual head of Europe. 

Moliere mocks at occult science and its adepts, 
through a long play, or rather a libretto for a 
ballet,^ which he wrote for the King in 1670, named 
as we already know, Les Amants Magnifiques. 
The dramatis personce are divided into two camps 
according to a rule of his own, in a fashion very 
unpleasant for the grandees of this world, Moliere 
allowing them the precedence in folly. It was 
sufficient for his heroes to be illustrious through 
rank, to endow them with a blind faith in all con- 
jurers. " The truth of astrology," says the Prince 
Iphicrate, " is an incontestable fact, and no one can 
dispute against the certitude of its predictions." 
This is also the opinion of the Prince Timocles : 
" I am sufficiently incredulous in regard to many 
things, but as for astrology, there is nothing more 
certain and more constant than the success with 
which horoscopes may be drawn." The Princess 
Aristione also agrees, and is anxious in finding 
that her daughter is less convinced. 

This is a commencement of a freedom of thought, 
and one cannot know to what it may lead : " My 
daughter," says the mother, " you have a little in- 
credulity which never leaves you." 

Disbelief in astrology and sorcery is represented 
in the play of Moliere, figuring in the name of 

' See the review of the play in Moliere of the Grands ^crivains de la 
France (Hachette). 



La Grande Mademoiselle 203 

** Clltidas, court jester," and of another person of 
obscure birth, " Sostrate, general of the army," 
who takes the part of Clitidas against the calmer 
prophets and other exploiters of human folly. 

There is nothing more agreeable [says he] than all the 
great promises of this sublime knowledge. To transform 
everything into gold; to find immortal life; to heal by words; 
to make oneself beloved by the person of one's desires; to 
know all the secrets of the future; to call down from the sky 
at will impressions upon metals which bear happiness to mor- 
tals '; to command demons; to render armies invisible and 
soldiers invulnerable — all this is doubtless charming, and there 
are people who have no trouble in believing in the possibility; 
it is the easiest thing in the world for some men to be con- 
vinced, but for me, I avow that my grosser mind has some 
difficulty in comprehending and in believing. 

La Fontaine has treated the same subject in 
three of his fables. It is in one of these, Les Devin- 
er esses, published in 1678, consequently before the 
famous drama Les Poisons, in which he shows him- 
self very well acquainted with what the police had 
not yet been sufficiently clever to discover. He 
knew marvellously well the existence of the poudre 
de succession and of the poudre pour V amour : 

Une femme, a Paris, faisait la pythonisse. 
On I'allait consulter sur chaque evenement; 
Perdait-on un chiffon, avait-on un amant, 
Une mari vivant trop, au gre de son epouse, 
Une mere facheuse, une femme jalouse, 

Chez la Devineuse on courait. 
Pour se faire annoncer ce que Ton d^sirait. 

' Allusion to certain talismans. 



204 Louis XIV. and 

The warning was not heeded, and it needed the 
"burning chamber" of 1680 to make honest people 
comprehend that " clairvoyant " was too often an- 
other name for "seller of poisons." La Fontaine 
had, however, given no new information about the 
confidence inspired. This fact was already too 
well known. 

This dangerous agency, of which we have already 
had a glimpse on the occasion of the first search for 
Lesage and Mariette, merits some descriptive details. 
In Paris, during a period of twenty years, it was so 
mixed up with intrigues and crimes that it exercised 
a real influence over the morals of the Parisian 
world and through it over the affairs at Court. 

Like a wave of madness it swept over the heads 
especially of the women. Many of these, even 
those not directly mingling in political life, were in 
a state of revolt, inconsolable for having lost the 
importance acquired during the civil troubles. 

Women had been emancipated by the force of 
affairs. During the actual fighting and the general 
disorders which ensued, the habit of remaining in 
the shade of obedience was lost ; also the consid- 
ering themselves only as objects of luxury. 

Louis XIV. had undertaken the task of bringing 
the sex back to the playing of a decorative or util- 
itarian role. It was almost as if to-day we should 
demand of our daughters, so free, so mingled with 
the general movement, to return suddenly to the 
self-effacement and the thousand restraints of our 
own youth. They would be transported with rage. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 205 

In 1666, the larger portion of the clients of the 
necromancer sought above everything else a secret 
by the aid of which they might shake off the yoke 
that had again fallen upon their shoulders. The 
husband was the natural incarnation of this yoke. 
It was therefore against him that the revolt was 
habitually directed. The wives addressed them- 
selves to a clairvoyant. The first consultation was 
generally innocent enough. 

The clairvoyant counselled new-comers to go to 
the good Saint Denis, always a succour for women 
unhappy in their domestic life, and to the indefati- 
gable Saint Antoine de Padua. She reserved un- 
til later the giving of certain powders, only hinting 
at their existence, the secret of which had been 
brought from Italy and which were sought at Paris 
by both provincials and strangers. 

It is now known through contemporaneous docu- 
ments that arsenic was an element in these powders, 
and that so many persons accused themselves in 
confession of having " poisoned some one " that the 
priests of Notre-Dame at length gave warning to 
the authorities (1673). Did the penitents, espe- 
cially the women, always speak the truth ? Popular 
imagination is so quickly fired when poisoning is 
suggested, that it may well be queried whether a 
portion of the unfortunates were not rather hys- 
terical and victims of hallucinations. It is probable 
that the true answer will never be known. Physi- 
cians at that time were the doctors of Moliere, and 
the science of chemistry did not exist. 



2o6 Louis XIV. and 

With the husband softened or suppressed, the 
women demanded love to replace emotion in their 
contracted and faded existence. The task of the 
necromancer thus consisted in interesting God or 
the devil in the heart pangs of her client and of 
arousing an affection in the breast of the man she 
designated. This was the beginning for the new 
clients ; the end was the black mass with its ob- 
scene rites or the bloody mass, for which a small 
infant was strangled. 

All the forms of conjuration were used between 
the two, every charm, every talisman and many 
"kinds of powders," not always inoffensive. The 
consultations were paid for according to the rank 
or fortune of the clients. In default of money, a 
jewel was given or even a signed note, the impru- 
dence of which last proceeding it is hardly needful 
to point out. 

In the year of the death of Anne of Austria, one 
of the clairvoyants most frequented was the wife of 
a hosier named Antoine Montvoisin, whose shop 
was situated upon the Pont Marie, which to-day 
still unites the right bank of the Seine with the isle 
Saint-Louis. The Pont Marie, as almost all the 
bridges of Paris at that date, had a double row of 
houses, with shops beneath, which formed a very 
animated street. The affairs of Montvoisin, how- 
ever, had not prospered. He had tried several 
commercial undertakings without success. He had 
been dry-goods merchant and jeweller, and had 
always "lost his shops," according to the expres- 




LA VOISIN 

From a print in the Bibliotheque Nationale 



La Grande Mademoiselle 207 

sion of his wife, Catherine Montvoisin, familiarly- 
called " the neighbour." 

It is under this latter name that she became cele- 
brated in the annals of crime. La Voisin the for- 
tune-teller is the same as La Voisin the poisoner. 
At the date of the hosiery shop, she had not yet 
attracted the attention of justice, in spite of her in- 
stallation, but ill-assured, on the Pont Marie, which 
obliged her to have a double domicile, or to give 
rendezvous at the house of her confrere. She sfained 
large sums of money. The price for consultation 
varied from a single piece to several thousand 
francs, or from an old rag to a necklace of precious 
stones, and again she drew something from the 
acolytes of both sexes who assisted in her wicked 
works. It was known from herself that her prop- 
erty was held in her own right, her husband having 
been always unfortunate in business. In spite of 
this precaution, the money slipped through her 
fingers. It is true that she had expenses, children 
to bring up and relatives to support. She said : " I 
have ten persons to feed," but she was economical 
for others. La Voisin gave a crown a week to her 
mother and brought up her daughter as a small 
shop-keeper. It was she herself who, in company 
with other miserables of her own kind, spent 
madly. The position of husband of a poisoner 
seems to have been a precarious one. Antoine 
Montvoisin was familiar with the nature of his wife's 
industry, but his conscience did not forbid his pro- 
fiting by it for his own comfort. His conscience 



2o8 Louis XIV. and 

also permitted him to appropriate to himself mo- 
ney entrusted to him by his wife to execute the 
orders for the neuvaines. He was as much a free- 
thinker as any of the Vardes or Guiches, and con- 
vinced that the neuvaines were absolutely useless. 
As to going further, to putting his own " paw in 
the dish," he was successfully prudent. He was 
never anxious ; but he was actually daily in danger 
of being poisoned, for La Voisin could not suffer 
this coward. She would have liked to replace him 
by a veritable associate, and between the pair, there 
were perpetual fights for pre-eminence in deceit. 

The good man Antoine would certainly have 
died through poisoning in spite of all his care, if 
he had not conceived the ingenious idea of uniting 
himself with an executioner, to whom he confided 
the situation. It was agreed between the two 
that, if Montvoisin should die before his wife, the 
hangman should speak and demand an autopsy. 
La Voisin became afraid. She tried to poison her 
husband on a journey, but did not succeed, and 
finally considered it safer to keep him with her. 

She had benefited, as had also the entire corpo- 
ration, by the hopes awakened in the breasts of 
many of the pretty women among the aristocracy 
by the death of the Queen Mother. 

Anne of Austria had taken so ill the first digres- 
sion of her son from the paths of virtue that the 
aspirants for the succession to Mile, de La Valliere 
had preserved a certain discretion. When the re- 
buffs of the old Queen were no longer to be feared, 



La Grande Mademoiselle 209 

the passions were unchained and a flock of youth- 
ful, ambitious women addressed themselves to the 
" duties of fashion " in order to arrive at the good 
graces of the King.-' The boldest demanded at the 
same time " something against Mile, de La Val- 
liere." Amongst these young women was found 
the Marquise de Montespan, who loved neither 
her husband nor the King, but who was harrassed 
by her creditors, was very conscious of her own 
value, and determined to be "recognised mis- 
tress," since this was now a position admitted and 
classified. 

She was as "beautiful as the day," says Saint- 
Simon, without being " perfectly agreeable " ; — the 
correction is by Mme. de La Fayette. She had all 
the wit possible, was delicious in eccentricities and 
courtesies. In spite of so much brilliancy, the 
King rather avoided her and she was reduced to 
amusing Marie-Therese, who admitted her freely, 
having full confidence in her virtue. The Queen 
had been deceived by the pious austerities of the 
young Marquise, by her frequent communions, and 
by a mass of religious practices which were really 
actuated by a sincere sentiment, and which Mme. 
de Montespan preserved as far as she could, not- 
withstanding the scandals of her after life. Under- 
stood in this manner, a sense of duty towards 
religion did not prevent resorting to sorceresses. 
It rather led in this direction in giving to the 

' Archives de la Bastille : Rapport de la Reynie, lieutenant-general 
of police, a Loiivois (1680, no other date). 
14 



2IO Louis XIV. and 

perverse soul " the vague consciousness of some- 
thing beyond." ^ 

Mme. de Montespan became one of the best 
clients of La Voisin, regarding neither the expense 
nor the decency of the ceremonies, provided that 
the devil would make her the beloved of Louis 
XIV. Faring better than her rivals, she received 
the value of her money. She began her campaign 
in the course of the year 1666. The MStnoires of 
Mademoiselle, very full on this subject, and else- 
where confirmed, inform us that in the spring of 
1667, Mme. de Montespan had supplanted La Val- 
liere ; it was the young Queen alone who was ig- 
norant of this fact. 

Less than two years after. La Voisin had the 
imprudence to make a disturbance because two of 
her aids had not acted honestly toward her. One 
of these was a priest, called Mariette, attached to 
the Church of Saint Severin. La Voisin made use 
of him in sacrilegious practices. The other, Le- 
sage, was a sort of Jack of all trades, who recoiled 
before no abomination. La Voisin accused them 
of having assaulted one of her clients, Mme. de 
Montespan, a fact true enough, but useless to pro- 
claim from the housetops. 

" The quarrel having made some noise," reports 
La Reynie, "and the King, having learned that 
these people were practising impieties and sacri- 
leges, had them watched." Mariette and Lesage 
were arrested. The examinations have been pre- 

' La Magie dans F Inde antique, by Victor Henry. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 211^ 

served for us. Here is an essential passage : Mari- 
ette avowed without hesitation to having spoken 
the Gospels " over the heads of various persons," 
a form of conjuration relatively innocent. The 
names were demanded. " Over the heads of the 
Lady de Bougy, Mme. de Montespan, la Duverger, 
M. de Ravetot, all of which persons Lesage had 
led to him."^ 

With this information secured, Louis XIV. 
ordered prosecution : 

Saint-Germain, August i6, 1668, 
I write this letter to tell you that it is my intention to have 
the said Mariette and Dubuisson * conducted from my chateau 
to the Chatelet of the City of Paris, for the continuation of 
their prosecution. 

One may be sure that the King did not lose this 
inquest from view. Louis XIV. was most eager 
for police details and this affair touched him too 
nearly to be forgotten. 

At the beginning of the investigation, it was dis- 
covered that Mariette was first cousin to the wife 
of the judge. On account of this connection, the 
Chatelet estimated that it was for the honour of 
the magistracy to stifle the affair. He brought 
every effort to accomplish this and evidently met 
with practical approbation from the powerful of 

' Interrogatory of June 30, 1668. Mme. de Bougy was the widow of the 
Marquis of this name, lieutenant-general. La Duverger was occupied 
with magic. The Marquis de Ravetot had married Catherine de Gram- 
mont, daughter of the Marshal. 

' Another name for Lesage. 



2 12 Louis XIV. and 

this world, for history permits us to see numerous 
irregularities. 

La Voisin, returning to her senses, heartily sec- 
onded the Justice in his efforts to obtain succour 
from those in high positions. Mariette and Le- 
sage, after a period of trials and difficulties, were 
left in peace to occupy themselves with their am- 
biguous trade. Both of these men figured again in 
the monster process of 1680, in which they were 
among those who spread details concerning the 
abominable practices with which de Mme. de Mon- 
tespan had been connected during long years. It 
does not matter here whether these details are addi- 
tions to the truth or not, for it is only Louis XIV. 
who interests us, not Mme. de Montespan. 

The letter cited above proves all that is neces- 
sary, that the King knew, from the year 1668, that 
his new mistress had connection with the criminal 
world, and that she had intimate interviews with 
ignoble persons, submitted to degrading contact, 
and had practised in their company sacrilegious 
rites. This monarch who passed for being so deli- 
cately keen in matters of punishment showed him- 
self singularly little moved. 

Surrounded by free-thinkers without prejudices, 
himself more or less of a free-thinker, he resembles 
so little, either morally or physically, the bewigged 
figure of the end of the reign, and of the Mdmoires 
of Saint-Simon, that he appears as another indi- 
vidual. How easily both proprieties and punish- 
ments are put on one side when passion reigns, 



La Grande Mademoiselle 213 

but how much more alive, how much more of a 
natural human being, compared to the wooden 
figure of the portraits of Versailles, is the King as 
now seen ; Louis XIV. is decidedly an enigmatical 
quantity. 

It would be inexact to state that passions had 
become more lively than they were during the wars 
of the Fronde, an epoch especially ardent ; but 
they had certainly changed their character, as had 
the tastes, ideas, literature, and fashions in gen- 
eral. This is the usual course of events, and, as 
we have seen, the movement was precipitated 
under the influence of a monarch all-powerful, de- 
termined to efface the past. 

An artistic event which should not be over- 
looked had favoured the designs of Louis XIV., 
in opening unknown perspectives to the curious 
after new sensations, already numerous in the sev- 
enteenth century. Dramatic music made its entry 
into the modern world. It brought with it, accord- 
ing to the phrase of one of its historians, M. Romain 
Rolland, ^ an " unlimited power for expressing pas- 
sion, and with passionate emotion all that remains 
incommunicable through the medium of language 
alone." We may or may not love music, but it 
must be admitted that a creation of this nature will 
certainly exercise a strong influence over the re- 
fined portion of a nation. 

"^ Histoire de r opera in Etirope, by M. Romain Rolland. Cf. Histoire 
de la Musiqiie dra??iattque en France, by Chouquet, Les Origines de V Opera 
fran^ais, by Nuitter and Thoinan. 



214 Louis XIV. and 

French society could not escape. The new art 
was in train to modify the nervous system, if I 
dare thus speak, of the world in which flourished, 
under the royal protection, those rather perilous 
ideas upon the rights of nature and the fatality 
of passion. Day by day, new chords were struck 
upon impressionable hearts. Dramatic music was 
born in Italy ; as might well be. In the year 1597, 
upon a carnival evening, a rich Florentine enter- 
tained a choice audience with a musical tragedy 
called Dafn^, of which the score is lost. Accord- 
ing to one of the guests, " the pleasure and aston- 
ishment which seized the soul of the auditors before 
so novel a spectacle could hardly be expressed." 

M. Romain Rolland confirms this testimony : " It 
was like a thunderbolt. All felt themselves in the 
presence of a new art." In ten years Italian 
opera reached its full growth, thanks chiefly to a 
composer of genius, Monteverde, whose Ariane 
caused an audience of more than six thousand per- 
sons to burst into sobs on its first representation. 

The art of singing had marched side by side with 
dramatic music and attained its height almost at 
once. A famous soprano, Vittori, threw the public 
into almost inconceivable transports. ** Many per- 
sons were suddenly forced to loosen their garments 
in order to breathe, so suffocated were they with 
emotion." 

Everywhere musical theatres were erected. The 
large cities built several ; Venice alone had five, 
and this number was not sufficient. The opera 



La Grande Mademoiselle 215 

was given in palaces and private salons ; " Bologna 
possessed more than sixty private theatres, without 
mentioning the convents and colleges." The clergy 
were caught in the whirlwind ; monks and nuns 
chanted operas, cardinals became stage managers 
of scenes, a future pope wrote librettos. It was an 
epidemic, a frenzy, and Italy did not go mad with 
impunity. In its beginning, the opera is responsi- 
ble for grave disorders, both nervous and moral ; 
it became too much of a passion. Mazarin already 
possessed this taste before his establishment in 
France. He wished to initiate his adopted country 
into the joys, almost to be dreaded, which had so 
suddenly enriched human life, and he brought from 
Italy one after the other four Italian troupes, the 
first in 1645, the last a short time before his death. 

The result was easy to predict. A spectacle 
patronised by the Cardinal became a matter of 
politics. Applauded by the partisans of the min- 
ister, derided by his adversaries, the Italian opera 
met with so strong an opposition that it was neces- 
sary to renounce it for the time, but the lesson was 
not lost. 

French composers heretofore devoted to ballets 
and masquerades had not received unheedingly 
the revelation of the dramatic style ; their ambition 
was also aroused to express the tempests of the 
soul, and they began to grope along the new path. 

The attempt was not at once successful ; but 
their efforts familiarised the public with the idea of 
a musical language of passion. In 1664, the song 



2i6 Louis XIV. and 

/ 

was considered the natural interpreter of love. 
Moliere fixes the date in his Princesse d' Elide, in 
which Moron does not succeed in gaining the ear 
of Philis because he speaks, instead of singing his 
declaration. Philis flees and Moron cries out : 
"Behold how it is: if I had been able to sing, I 
should have done better. Most women of to-day 
only let themselves be courted through the ears ; 
this is the reason that the entire world has become 
musical, and one can succeed with the fair only by 
making them listen to little songs and verses. I 
must learn to sing like others." 

It was indeed somewhat different in 1671, when 
French opera arrived on the scene.^ It had hardly 
seen the light when it became, as a result of the 
association of Quinault with Lulli, a counsellor of 
voluptuousness. 

While the decorations and the dances charmed 
the eyes, as the " machines " amused by their 
complications, the words and music, outdoing the 
Princesse d' Elided murmured unceasingly with the 
same caressing languor that no youthful beings 
have the right, for any motive whatever, to deny to 
themselves the duty of loving. "<^ield, give your- 
selves up to transports," chants a chorus of Amadis. 
The thirteen "lyrical tragedies" given by Quinault 
and Lulli from 1673 to 1686 are all constructed 

' The first opera worthy of the name was Ponione, by Cambert. It will 
be learned in special works how French opera differed from Italian and 
through what a chain of circumstances it occurred that a Florentine, Bap- 
tiste Lulli, was the true founder. 

^ See above. 




JEAN BAPTISTE DE LULU 
After a contemporary print by Bonnart 



La Grande Mademoiselle 217 

upon this one theme. They gave expression to the 
one single idea ; " Yield ! surrender yourselves ! " 
and resulted in producing a certain eloquence from 
their monotony. When these lyrics are played on 
the piano,^ a better means of hearing them fail- 
ing, one cannot but feel that in spite of their in- 
sipidity the continuous appeal to the senses might 
produce in the end, particularly in the atmosphere 
of a theatre, a strong effect. 

Moralists recognised this. All will remember 
the violent attack of Boileau upon the opera. To- 
day we consider this attack as having been too 
narrowly virtuous, even a little ridiculous. It 
can be explained, however, in considering what a 
novelty it was to see people seized with nervous 
attacks and fits of weeping while listening to 
singing. Was it the " loose morals " of Quinault 
which caused these? Was it the new music? In 
either case, the worthy Boileau was excusable for 
his alarm. 

France had not yet reached the point of excit- 
ability which existed in Italy. The French are not 
a sufficiently musical race for this ; but in a less 
degree, the country submitted to the extraordinary 
power of the dramatic style. It is known through 
Mme. de Sevigne that if the French listeners did 
not invariably "burst into sobs" or ''suffocate 
with emotion," more than one auditor, including 
herself, wept silently in hearing the fine passages. 

' A selection of the operas of LuUi, for piano and voice, has appeared in 
the Collection Michaelis. 



2i8 Louis XIV. and 

Fashion also swayed affairs, and we know of what 
fashion is capable in France. 

Saint Evremond has written a comedy entitled 
The Operas. In the list oi dramatis per sonce, one 
reads : " Mile. Crisotine become mad throusfh the 
hearing of operas. Tirsolet, a young man from 
Lyons, also became mad through operas." A third 
person relates that " nothing else is spoken of in 
Paris. Women and even young children knew 
the operas by heart, and there is hardly a house 
in which entire scenes are not sung." How 
nearly France and Italy are approached in this. 
The Louvre party caught the fashion, the court- 
iers, being eager to imitate the King, a great 
admirer of Lulli. 

It had happened that Louis remarked during the 
rehearsals of Alceste " that if he were at Paris when 
the opera should be played, he would go every 
day." " This phrase," adds Mme. de Sevigne "is 
worth a hundred thousand francs to Baptiste."^ This 
was no affectation on the part of the King ; he really 
loved music, as can be recognised through unmis- 
takable signs. Louis XIV. had throughout his life 
the taste and more than a taste for music ; to which 
he added a longing to be himself a performer, a 
desire that can never be satisfied with the most 
skilled professional entertainments. As a youth, he 
played the guitar and took part in ensemble play- 
ing. As a man, he found that he had a good voice, 
and knew how to use it in amateur reunions. 

' Letter dated December i, 1673. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 219 

It can even be said that he sang not only at suit- 
able but also at unsuitable moments : the day after 
the death of his son, the Grand Dauphin, the ladies 
of the Palace heard with surprise the King singing 
opera prologues. During his later years, when it 
was difficult to amuse him, Mme. de Maintenon 
organized musicales in her salon and Louis always 
enjoyed these. One evening when she substituted 
vespers ^ for the scores of Lulli, the King made no 
criticism and even intoned the vespers. Provided 
it was music, all kinds were good ; but the King 
showed a certain predilection for the kind which he 
had seen created, already so rich in new emotions 
and which bore rare promise for the future of the 
artistic world, and the monarch possessed all the 
qualites needed to enjoy it profoundly. 

The reader cannot fail to perceive through the 
witness of his frequent bursts of tears that Louis 
was of a nervous disposition, somewhat concealed 
under the cold and calm exterior which he had Im- 
posed upon himself. In advancing age, this ten- 
dency to tears became almost a malady. Mme. de 
Maintenon, In a letter dated 1705, writing to a 
friend of the " vapours " of the King and of his 
sombre humour, makes the remark that he is " some- 
times overcome with weeping which he cannot 
restrain." 

He was a sensualist to whom themes of love were 
always attractive. " Yield ! Surrender ! " the King 

' Introduction par M. le Comte d' Haussonville, aux Souvenirs sur Mtne. 
de Maintejton. 



220 Louis XIV. and 

never ceased to repeat on his own behalf to the 
pretty women of his Court. For the rest, Quinault 
and LulH made him choose the subjects for their 
operas ; and Louis had therefore a responsibihty 
for the voluptuousness which exhaled from their 
works. 

Dramatic music has now established itself. The 
civilised world discovers with delight that this art 
has an unlimited capacity for expressing passion, 
and all the passions, even the highest, the purest, 
and this latter includes love. It has also been 
recognised that music can speak in its own words 
outside of the theatre, in a symphony, in a simple 
sonata, and that there exists no art so benevolent, 
so reposeful, and so reassuring to troubled souls. 
In spite of this, in spite of all, moralists have never 
been willing to throw down their weapons before 
music. Emanuel Kant was clearly hostile to it ; he 
said, "It enervates man,"^ and he turned away his 
disciples from its joys. Tolstoi has been unkind 
to it in the Kreutzer Sonata. 

All forces can become dangerous ; it depends on 
the "use made of them,"^ and also upon the souls 
which receive the impulse ; they must be of the 
calibre to support its force. 

The action of music upon French society has 
never, so far as I know, been methodically studied 
in relation to its effects, both physical and moral. 
If a historian be found, he will issue from the psy- 
chological laboratories, scientifically equipped, in 

' Kant ah Mensch, by Erich Adickes. "^ Romain Rolland. 




BOILEAU 
After the painting by H. Rigaud 



La Grande Mademoiselle 221 

which the observer conceals the physician : on this 
condition only can he speak with authority. 

The Grande Mademoiselle cared but little for 
music. Nevertheless she extols Lulli in her Me- 
moir es : "He makes the most beatific airs in the 
world." The glory of Baptiste touched her be- 
cause he was "her own," arrivino- from Italv some 
time before the Fronde. " He came to France with 
my late uncle the Chevalier de Guise. I had 
prayed him to bring me an Italian, with whom I 
could speak and learn the language." 

Lulli was only a boy of thirteen at the time that 
he was brought to France. Between the Italian 
lessons, he filled the office of cook. Later, ad- 
mitted among the violins of Mademoiselle, it is re- 
lated that he was chased away for having satirised 
his mistress in song. This recalls other events : 

I was exiled: he did not wish to live in the country: he 
demanded leave to go away : I accorded it, and since he has 
made his fortune, for he is a great merry-andrew. 

Lulli always remained a buffoon in the mind of 
Mademoiselle, although she assisted at his triumphs 
and survived him. 

Mademoiselle preserved the taste for literature 
formed at Saint-Fargeau. Her name is associated 
with several incidents, great and small, of the 
literary history of the times. In 1669, when Tar- 
tuffe was definitely authorised, she wished to have 
it performed in her salon. This fact is noteworthy 
as the Church still forbade its representation. On 



222 Louis XIV. and 

August 21, Mademoiselle gave a f^te. When most 
of the guests had departed, ''Tartuffe, the fashion- 
able piece, was played before twenty women and 
numbers of men." ^ Did the end of the phrase 
contain a slight excuse — "which was the fashion- 
able piece " ? However this may be. Mademoiselle 
could boast to her confessor that she had been 
** economical " with Moliere. The entertainment 
at the Luxembourg was paid for with three hun- 
dred francs given to the actors, the current price 
being for such a performance five hundred and 
fifty francs. Thus the virtuous homes evidenced 
their piety ! 

On another occasion. Mademoiselle had the hon- 
our, if the Abbe d'Olivet may be believed, of sup- 
plying Moliere with an entire scene ready made : 
and what a scene ! Amoncf the habitiUs of the 
salon figured one of the victims of Boileau, the 
impudent Abbe Cotin, who not finding himself 
sufficiently dtrilld (thrashed) had provoked new 
retaliations in gossiping about Moliere. 

One day he brought some verses of his own 
composition to the palace of the Luxembourg to 
read them to Mademoiselle. In the midst of her 
admiration another writer, supposed to be Menage, 
entered. Mademoiselle committed the error of 
showing the verses of the Abbe and, without men- 
tioning the name of the author, of defending the 
expressed opinions. The result was the scene be- 
tween Vadius and Trissotin (at first named ** Tri- 

* M^moires of Mademoiselle. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 223 

cotin " lest one should be deceived). It was only 
needful for Moliere to give the touch of genius as 
in the sonnet to the Princess Uranie and in the 
verses upon the Carosse Amarante. In these two 
cases, it is well known that the lines are copied 
word for word from a volume written by the Abbe 
Cotin, ■* 

Many echoes of the grand literary battle of the 
century^ still resounded in the Luxembourg. The 
success of the first tragedies of Racine irritated that 
portion of the public, always large, which has a 
horror of being disturbed in its habits of thought 
by importunate novelties. Such a disturbance is a 
punishment to many persons, whether the moving 
force comes from literature, science, or art. There 
are many examples of this fixed state of mind to be 
found in the past century : it will suffice to recall 
the struggles hardly yet quieted between Pasteur 
and Wagner. 

Racine appeared on the scene as a revolutionary 
force. He and Moliere, sustained by their friend 
Boileau, presented a dramatic art absolutely new, 
which was separated by a gulf from that of Cor- 
neille and for which nothing had prepared the way. 
CornelUe's predecessors were Malret, the du Ryers 
and many others : Racine stood alone. He was 
the first and the last to make tragedy realistic, with 

' CEuvres galantes en vers et en prose, by M. Cotin. 

^ For this see Les Ennemis de Racine, by F. Deltour ; Les Epoques du 
TkMtre franfais, and Les Etudes critiques sur F Histoire de la Litterature 
fran^aise by M. F. Brunetiere ; the memoirs and correspondence of the 
times ; the collection of Mercure galant; les prefaces de Racine, etc. 



224 Louis XIV. and 

the subject simple, the characters scrupulously true 
to nature, and the language often audaciously 
familiar. 

Louis XIV. applauded. Racine and the King 
well comprehended each other. Heinrich Heine 
has given the reason for this in one of those 
phrases which throw light upon an entire period : 
" Racine is the first modern poet, as Louis XIV. 
was the first modern King." 

The young Court applauded cordially with the 
King. It also belonged to the new regime ; but for 
the old Court, for the survivors of the Hotel Ram- 
bouillet, the tragedy of Racine was as shocking, as 
displeasing, as were the first realistic romances to 
the faithful adherents of romanticism, and for the 
same reasons. In spite of the difficulty so many 
have, of sympathising with the ideas of the one 
called a little disdainfully " the gentle Racine," " the 
elegant Racine," this writer appeared neither gen- 
tle nor elegant to three-fourths of the salon, to the 
" old Court " of the Grande Mademoiselle. The 
Pyrrlnts seemed to them " brutal," the Phedre, 
a "madwoman" "the blackness" of Nero or Nar- 
cisse entirely beyond what should be permitted on 
the stage. 

Not that the personages of Corneille or of his 
predecessors acted less wickedly, but their brutes 
and villains were nevertheless " heroes " and that 
made all the difference. The personages created 
by Racine were only " men," simple men, who 
used words " low and grovelling," bourgeois words, 



La Grande Mademoiselle 225 

expressions such as " Quoi qu'il en soit, que fais je, 
que dis-je ! " ^ and did not even realise the sense : 
more than three hundred improper terms have been 
counted in Andromaque. Racine would have fared 
better if his poetic methods had not been in some 
way a criticism upon the cleverness of Corneille. 
This was the real grievance, obliging the adorers of 
the old poet to condemn the insolent one. 

Mme. de Sevigne, who could not always pre- 
vent herself, although " mad with Corneille," from 
admiring Racine, or from letting him perceive 
it, hastened to correct herself when this hap- 
pened. She wrote to her daughter, "■ Bajazet 
is beautiful," and added six lines further on, as 
a person who has a reproach to make, " Believe 
me, nothing will approach (I do not say surpass) 
some divine passages of Corneille." Having thus 
regulated her conscience, she returned to Bajazet 
to avow that she had "wept more than twenty 
tears " (letter dated January 15, 1672), but her letter 
evidently left her with a slight feeling of discomfort. 
Two months later, she attenuated the praise of the 
new piece, to which she now accorded only " agree- 
able things," and declared Corneille to be another 
order of genius : " My daughter, let us take care not 
to compare Racine with him, let us well perceive 
the difference ! " 

Almost all of Mademoiselle's generation showed 
themselves as jealous as Mme. de Sevigne for the 
glory of Corneille. To the admiration inspired by 

^ Criticism by Boursault. 



226 Louis XIV. and 

his genius is added the tender gratitude that we 
guard for works in which Hve again the ideals of 
our youth. It is our own thoughts, our fine dreams 
of early days, that we love in these productions. 

The tragedy of Racine signified that the day of 
Corneille had passed ; its success indicated the inroad 
of new ideas and pointed definitely to the fact that 
those faithful to the ancient worship had really been 
relegated to the position of old fogies. This is 
never an agreeable position when one feels still 
alive and with no very active realisation that old 
age is approaching. People of letters are the first 
to suffer from these revolutions of taste which leave 
surviving only works of the first rank while the rest 
are cast away into oblivion. 

As we know, the litterateurs who frequented the 
salon of Mademoiselle were all enemies of Racine, 
half on account of loyalty to Corneille, half on their 
own behalf, through an instinct of self-preservation. 
Besides Menage and the Abbe Cotin, whom we have 
lately encountered speaking frankly to each other, 
besides the amiable Segrais whose literary powers 
were too light to lead him far, there was the Abbd 
Boyer, whose tragedies Segrais desired to be par- 
doned, because he was a " sufficiently good academi- 
cian," and that worthy old man De Chapelain, 
illustrious until the day upon which his verses went 
to press. There was some reason for accusing 
Mademoiselle of having been the " centre of the 
opposition to the new poetry." ^ To say this is, 

' Deltour, Les Ennemies de Racine. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 227 

however, to exaggerate her rdle. We shall see later 
that she was far too occupied in living through her 
own tragedy to be actively interested in those being 
enacted upon the boards. Loaded with injuries 
and calumnies by the Vadius and the Trissotins, 
menaced with thrashings by the aristocratic protect- 
ors of these great men of the salon, Racine ran the 
risk of being crushed, and was saved only by the 
signal favour of the King. Neither he nor Moliere 
would have accomplished their work if Louis XIV. 
had not sustained them against all critics. This is 
a service for which we should not limit our grati- 
tude. The reflection upon this great debt arouses 
a tenderness towards a Prince with whom we are 
otherwise not always sympathetic. 

It is possible that there was some politics in his 
attitude. The success of writers so new fell in 
well with his design of making a tabula rasa of the 
detested past : but after all the main reason for 
which protection was accorded was affection. 

When Louis XIV. laughed "even till his sides 
ached " ^ over the Ecole des Femmes, at which 
amusement the ddvots and prudes were indignant, 
when he saved the Plaidettrs, almost hissed in the 
Hdtel de Bourgogne, by " bursts of laughter, so 
great that the Court was astonished," ^ there was no 
calculation : he was honestly amused, like any one 
else. It was also a true and frank admiration which 
caused him to dry his tears at Iphigenie, and to 

' Gazette de Loret, January 13, 1663. 

' Memoir es sur la vie et les ouvrages de yean Racine, by Louis Racine. 



228 Louis XIV. and 

order the repetition of Mithridate. He loved the 
" new " for two reasons : because he had good taste, 
and because the heroes of the later writers were of 
the kind needful for his generation. It has been 
seen how marvellously Moliere and the King under- 
stood each other, and the mention of Racine recalls 
to us the profound phrase of Heine. Racine re- 
vealed himself in the Androinaque as the " first 
modern poet." Hermione and Oreste have only a 
distant relationship with the heroes of Corneille. 
They are already " those possessed by love, the 
great passionates with whom love becomes a malady, 
who love to the brink of crime, and even till death." 

With these characters, it can be said that modern 
love, profound, tender, melancholy, impregnated 
with soul, and at the same time troubled by the ob- 
scure influences of the nervous life, makes its 
entrance into French literature. Oreste shows a 
sadness, a despair, a madness, which a century and 
a half later burst forth in love romances. Louis 
XIV. had not waited for Racine for his education 
in passion. When Marie Mancini fascinated him, 
he was one of the first examples of the modern type 
of those " possessed by love," and he had never for- 
gotten this crisis ; in fact he never forgot anything. 
This episode in the life of the young King had been 
a good apprenticeship for the comprehending of the 
love of Oreste or of Phedre as the true love malady, 
as a fatality against which our single will is only a 
feeble weapon. 

Around the King, Mme. Henriette, Mme. de 



La Grande Mademoiselle 229 

Montespan, all the young Court and some shrewd 
spirits of the old, with Conde at the head, rendered 
justice to the truth of the " anatomies of the heart," 
in the tragedy of Racine. Mademoiselle was in- 
capable of this ; she believed too firmly in the 
superhuman strength of the heroes of Corneille, 
with whom the will laughs at resistance, whether 
the opposition arises in the soul or in the exterior 
world, to admit the fatality of passion. Neverthe- 
less, it was the Grande Mademoiselle herself who 
was going to demonstrate clearly to all France that 
it was impossible to escape fate, when this fate 
points to love. Here we meet the great misfortune 
of her life! 

An atmosphere of passion, and an intimacy with 
people whose sole occupation was to render them- 
selves attractive, was somewhat dangerous for an 
old maid, sensitive without realising it. Mademoi- 
selle had the singular desire, which later cost her 
dearly, to make an ally of Mme. de Montespan 
and thus to form a part of the chosen society of 
the Court. 

She sought the company of the mistress and re- 
ceived service from her. Mme. de Montespan was 
her interpreter with the King. In return Mademoi- 
selle endeavoured to calm M. de Montespan who, 
for serious or for trival reasons ^ " flew into pas- 
sions," like a " madman " or "wild person," against 
Madame his wife. ** He is my relative and I scolded 

'See the volume by MM. Jean Lemoine and Andre Lichtenberger, De 
La Valliere a Montespan. 



230 Louis XIV. and 

him," says the Mdmoires of Mademoiselle. As a 
connoisseur, Mademoiselle hugely enjoyed the 
original wit of Mme. de Montespan. The pleasure 
found in returning the ball in conversation was the 
foundation of the intimacy. 

With the growing idleness of the Court, pleasure 
in pure cleverness increased. The play of the mind 
was the sole resource against ennui. Wit, no 
matter at whose expense, became the enjoyment. 
The wise and prudent Mme. de Maintenon suc- 
cumbed like Mademoiselle, when her turn came, to 
the irresistible charm of a conversation which " ren- 
ders agreeable the most serious matters, and en- 
nobles the most trivial." ^ 

During the sharpest quarrel between Mademoi- 
selle and Mme. de Montespan, the enjoyment of 
the opponent's wit was so keen that they parted 
with pain. " Mme. de Montespan and I," wrote 
Mme. de Maintenon in i68i,^ "have to-day taken 
a walk, holding each other's arms and laughing 
heartily ; we are not more in accord for this." 
There can never be too much cleverness, but there 
is an inconvenience in there being nothing behind 
the wit, and this is one of the rocks towards which 
Louis XIV. was pushing the French nobility. He 
made it impossible for those pacing his antechambers 
to indulge in any intellectual effort other than that 
of seeking pretty phrases to amuse the listeners. 

' Souvenirs sur Mtne. de Maintenon. — Les Cahiers de Mile. d'Aumale^ 
with an Introduction by M. G. Hanotaux. 
'May 27, to M. de Montchevreuil. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 231 

A gentleman of quality commences his day at 
eight in the morning standing in waiting before the 
door of the king. Salutes are given and returned. 
The elegants comb their locks, glancing out of the 
corner of their eyes at those entering. Moliere 
permits us to be present at the " final assault " 
through verses but little known : 

Grattez du peigne a la porte ' 
De la chambre du Roi ; 
Ou si, comme je prevoi, 
La presse s'y trouve forte, 
Montrez de loin votre chapeau, 
Ou montez sur quelque chose 
Pour faire voir votre museau, 
Et criez sans aucune pause, 
D'un ton rien moins que naturel ; 
" Monsieur 1' huissier, pour le marquis un tel" 
Jetez-vous dans la foule, et tranchez du notable, 
• Coudoyez un chacun, point du tout quartier, 
Pressez, poussez, faites le diable 
Pour vous mettre le premier.^ 

M. le Marquis enters. The chamber is already 
crowded. He "gains ground step by step," suc- 
ceeds in seeing the King put on his shoes, for Louis 
performs this act with his own royal hands, and 
thus passes the first hour. The exciting event is 
repeated in the evening when the King takes off his 
shoes. The Marquis had already, at one o'clock, 
witnessed the consumption of the royal soup, and 
two or three times in the course of the day had de- 
lighted his eyes with the sight of the King passing 

1 " Frappez'^ would have been misunderstood. 
^ Re7nerciement au Roi (1663). 



232 Louis XIV. and 

to and fro on his way to mass or to take the fresh 
air. 

During- the intervals, the courtiers were charged 
with certain puerile occupations. The round of 
homages were made to the various members of the 
royal family and the prominent personages of the 
day, and there was gambling and other pleasures. 
The only relief for this complete idleness was to be 
found in an active campaign if there happened to be 
a war on hand. Let the courtier be admired for be- 
ing able under such adverse circumstances to keep 
his wit awake and alert for attack and response, 
and also for the capacity of finding the military 
virtues when again called upon to exercise them. 

Fortunately, the latter virtues were deeply in- 
grained in the breasts of the French gentlemen of 
this period, and it is not to their discredit if the 
other faculties, mental and physical, the exercise 
of which was plainly discouraged by the King, 
should have so fallen into disuse that their children 
suffered. The final descendants of four or five 
generations of those living this absurd life were the 
dmigrds of the great Revolution, all heroes, almost 
all clever, or at least appearing so, and in general 
people of wit, but without character. This fact can 
hardly be too much emphasised : never has a 
monarch laboured with greater skill and method 
than Louis XIV. in the successful attempt to anni- 
hilate the nobility and to ruin its reputation. This 
is one of the most serious souvenirs of the wars of 
the Fronde. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 233 

It was with the women as with the men — the 
same subjection, the same emptiness of life, from 
which arose the weakness of Mademoiselle for Mme. 
de Montespan. The situation of recognised mis- 
tress " affects nothing " ; Mademoiselle had never 
considered that the virtue of others concerned her. 
The novelty of the situation, the unexpected pre- 
rogatives accruing to the new position, and the habits 
resulting, gave rise to some of the most curious 
incidents of the reign, and also strengthened an 
intimacy which survived many shocks. 

As soon as Louis XIV. formally established his 
mistresses at Court, it had been needful to frame 
new rules of etiquette. At first these rules were un- 
derstood rather than formulated, but contemporary 
writers give evidence of their existence. It was 
the new regulations which gave scandal, rather than 
the fact of a weakness too common to all men of all 
times. The people had found the phrase suitable 
enough when it ran to gaze on " the three queens " 
in one carriage ; Mile, de La Valliere and Mme. 
de Montespan were publicly at the same time oc- 
cupying the rank of secondary wives to the King. 
When the royal family made its solemn visits to any 
of its members who were mortally ill, these two 
ladies arrived after the King and Queen. Made- 
moiselle met them at the deathbed of Mme. Henri- 
ette ; " Mme. de Montespan and La Valliere came." 
She met them again over the cradle of a daughter 
of Louis XIV. and of Marie-Therese, who died as 
an infant. " I found her in the last extremity. . . . 



234 Louis XIV. and 

We staid almost the entire night watching her die ; 
Mme. de Montespan and Mme. de La ValHere were 
also there." The latter escaped from such honours 
as often as she could. Mme. de Montespan liked 
them better, and added to them. She had placed 
herself upon the footing of the Queen in regard to 
ordinary visits, which she never returned. " Never," 
says Saint-Simon, " not even to Monsieur or 
Madame or to the Grande Mademoiselle, or to the 
Hotel de Conde." 

The same hauteur was displayed in the manner 
of receiving the princes and princesses of the blood, 
and this " exterior of Queen " followed her into the 
retreat ! All were accustomed to it. 

" The habit of respect was preserved without 
murmur," says again SaintfSimon, who recalled 
Mme. de Montespan, disgraced and passing her 
time in penitence, nevertheless continuing to hold 
court in her convent,^ with as royal an etiquette as 
at Saint-Germain or Versailles : 

The back of her armchair was formed by the foot-piece of 
the bed, and there was no other chair in the room. Monsieur 
and the Grande Mademoiselle had always loved her, and often 
went to see her; for these, chairs were brought, and also for 
Madame la Princesse; but Mme. de Montespan did not dream 
of deranging herself for her own people nor for those they 
brought with them. , . . One can judge by this how she 
received " all the world." 

The " all the world," which included some of the 

' The Convent of Saint- Joseph, rue Saint Dominique ; Mme. de Monte- 
span had constructed in it an apartment for herself. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 235 

most distinguished, contented themselves with small 
** chairs with backs," or simple camp stools. No 
one was offended, and ** all France came " ; I do not 
know by what fantasy it was considered a duty to 
make visits from time to time. She spoke to each 
like a queen holding her court, who honours in ad- 
dressing." Marie-Therese herself, in the time in 
which Mme. de Montespan was the actual sover- 
eign, had submitted to the long empire of custom. 
In 1675, ^1^^ fourth year of the war in Holland, Louis 
XIV. being with the army while Mme. de Monte- 
span was at her chateau at Clagny, one of their 
sons was '* slightly ill." ^ The Queen considered 
it her duty to visit the child and to comfort the 
mother. She went to seek Mme de Montespan, 
and led her one day to the Trianon, another to dine 
in some favourite convent, an example which 
brought the crowd to Clagny and made an end of 
hesitancy. " The wife of her firm (solide) friend," 
wrote Mme. de Sevigne, ** visited her, and after- 
ward the entire family in turn. She takes pre- 
cedence of all the Duchesses." (July 3, 1675.) 

There had been a time in which this fashion of 
ignoring rank would have excited the indignation 
of Mademoiselle ; but this time was far distant, 
farther than she herself realised. In 1667 she had 
cried very loud because her second sister. Made- 
moiselle d'Alen9on, had made a mesalliance in 
marrying a simple seigneur, the Due de Guise, 

' The Comte de Vexin, who died young. — Mme. de Sevigne, letter dated 
June 14, 1675. 



236 Louis XIV. and La Grande Mademoiselle 

and she had looked very gloomily at the pair. The 
time had passed for such pride, as the poor woman 
was herself ready for a worse mesalliance. Her 
patience was at an end. Her agitation while Louis 
XIV. was attempting marriage negotiations with 
the Due de Savole must not be forgotten. No 
prince had thought of her since this affront. She 
was considered too old. She would not confess 
this to be the case, but she felt it, and a tempest 
gathered In the depths of her heart. The storm 
burst in 1669. It Is impossible to say In what 
measure nature alone was responsible, and what 
was due to the atmosphere of moral disorder and 
voluptuousness which Mademoiselle was now In- 
haling at the Court In the frequent companionship 
of the favourite. One thing Is certain, the Grande 
Mademoiselle did not try to struggle against the 
passion which seized her ; her attitude was rather 
that of a person who sought Its sway. 



CHAPTER V 

The Grande Mademoiselle in Love — Sketch of Lauzun and their Romance — 
The Court on its Travels — Death of Madame — Announcement of the 
Marriage of Mademoiselle — General Consternation — Louis XIV. Breaks 
the Affair. 

IN the spring of 1669, Louis XIV. one day was 
listening to the Comtesse de Soissons sing. 
She was the second of the Mazarin nieces, and the 
only really wicked one in the family. She sang 
a new song containing many naughty couplets, 
in which mud was thrown upon some of the court- 
iers. Men and women received their packet under 
the guise of mock praise, according to a fashion 
much in vogue. The phrase " mock praise " had 
become the name of a form of satire, which made 
an almost unique literature. The King permitted 
the couplets to pass in silence. He did not even 
protest at this one : 

Et pour M. Le Grand,' 
II est tout mystere; 
Quand il est galant, 
II a comme La Valliere 
L'esprit penetrant. 

' The Grande Equerry, Louis de Lorraine, Comte d' Armagnac. 

237 



238 Louis XIV. and 

The Countess then arrived at a couplet on Puy- 
guilhem, better known under the name of Lauzun.^ 

De la cour 

La vertu la plus pure 

Est en Peguilin, . . . 

At this place the King interrupted : " If it is 
wished to vex him, they are wrong, but when peo- 
ple act as he has done, they must be let alone ; as 
for others, they are badly treated." The sudden 
displeasure of the King at the mention of Puy- 
guilhem caused a general silence, and the song 
stopped at this point. 

The Grande Mademoiselle was present at this 
scene, and was surprised to discover that she was 
not indifferent to its import. Up to this time, she 
had scarcely known Lauzun, who did not belong to 
her coterie. "It pleased me," says her Memoir es, 
"■ to hear the manner in which the King spoke of 
him ; I felt some instinct of the future." This was 
the first warning of the passion which had already 
insinuated itself into the depths of her heart ; but 
she did not yet comprehend it. The idea came to 
her, however, of seizing an occasion to converse 
with Lauzun. She felt an inclination for this at 
once. " He has," said she, "a manner of explain- 
ing himself which is very extraordinary." Made- 
moiselle was interested, but she still believed 
that it was only the conversational capacity which 

' The Marquis de Puyguilhem (written Peguilin) had taken the name of 
Comte de Lauzun the following January. The latter title will be used in 
this volume. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 239 

pleased her in the litde cadet of Gascony. She be- 
gan to query, however, why, having been sufficiently 
content during her five years of exile, she was now 
so willing to remain a fixture. The year had ended 
before she found a satisfactory response to this 
question : " I went in the month of December (the 
6th) to Saint-Germain, from which I did not de- 
part. I soon accustomed myself to it. Ordinarily, 
I only stayed three or four days, and my present 
long sojourn surprised every one." 

On the 31st, she decided at length to return to 
Paris : " I was very bored there, and could not dis- 
cover what I had done at Saint-Germain which 
had so much diverted me." She hastened to re- 
join the Court, without knowing why, and com- 
menced again her conversations with Lauzun, but 
still remained unconscious of any sentiment. She 
only knew that she was troubled and agitated, and 
discontented with her condition, and that she felt a 
desire to marry. The desire dated back a long 
time, but of late it had become so insistent 
that Mademoiselle was forced to examine herself 
seriously. 

The passage in which she relates her discovery 
is charmingly natural and significantly true : 

I reasoned with myself (for I did not speak to any one) 
and I said, ' this is no longer a vague thought ; it must have 
some object.' I did not discover who it was. I sought, I 
dreamed, but could not find out. Finally, after some days of 
anxiety, I perceived that it was M. de Lauzun whom I loved, 
who had glided into my heart. I thought him the most 



240 Louis XIV. and 

worthy man in the world, the most agreeable ; nothing was 
lacking to make me happy but a husband like him, whom I 
should love and who would love me devotedly ; that hereto- 
fore I had never been loved ; that it was necessary once in 
life to taste the sweetness of being adored by some one, which 
would make worth while the sufferings caused by the pangs of 
lo^e. 

This explanation of her own heart was followed 
by days of intoxication. Mademoiselle lived in a 
dream, and all was easy, all was arranged : " It ap- 
peared to me that I found more pleasure in seeing 
him and in talking to him than heretofore ; that the 
days in which he was absent, I was bored, and I 
believe that the same feeling came to him ; that he 
did not care to confess this, but the pains he took 
to come wherever he was likely to meet me made 
the fact clear." In the absence of Lauzun, she 
sought solitude in order to think of him freely. 
" I was delighted to be alone in my chamber ; I 
formed plans of what I could do for him which 
would give him a higher position." 

One single thought, characteristic of her genera- 
tion, came to trouble her happiness ; she queried 
of herself if the great princesses of the theatre of 
Corneille would have married a cadet of Gascogne. 
Assuredly, passion blows where it listeth. Cor- 
neille had never denied this ; but he had main- 
tained that the will should render us masters of our 
affections, and his plays bear witness that love, 
even when founded in a just feeling of admiration, 
can efface itself before the sentiment of the duty 



La Grande Mademoiselle 241 

owed to rank. Happily, poets, even when they 
are named Corneille, sometimes contradict them- 
selves, and Mademoiselle, who had seen plays since 
the days of swaddling clothes, well knew her reper- 
toire. She now recalled for her comfort a passage 
in the Suite dti Menteur which clearly established 
the " predestination of marriage, and the foresight 
of God," so that it was a Christian duty to sub- 
mit without resistance to sentiments sent to us 
''from the sky." 

Although sure of her own memory, which was 
indeed excellent, Mademoiselle sent in great haste 
to Paris to secure a copy of the play, and found 
the page (Act IV.) in which Melisse confides to 
Lise his love for Dorante : 

Quand les ordres du ciel nous ont faits I'un pour I'autre, 

Lise, c'est un accord bientdt fait que le notre. 

Sa main entre les cceurs, par un secret pouvoir, 

Seme I'intelligence avant que de se voir ; 

II prepare si bien I'amant et la maitresse. 

Que leur ame au seul nora s'emeut et s'interesse. 

On s'estime, on se cherche, on s'aime en un moment ; 

Tout ce qu'on s'entredit persuade aisement ; 

Et, sans s'inquieter de mille peurs frivoles, 

La foi semble courir au-devant des paroles. 

How was it possible to doubt for a single instant 
after having read these verses that there is impiety 
in disobeying the " commands " to love which come 
to us from on high ? Nevertheless, serious con- 
flicts took place in the soul of the royal pupil of 
Corneille. Sometimes she represented to herself 



242 Louis XIV. and 

with vivacity the joys of marriage, among the keen- 
est of which would be the witnessing the vexation 
of her heirs, who were already beginning to find 
that she was making them wait too long, and whom 
she longed to disappoint. Sometimes her mind 
could only dwell upon the scandal which such a 
misalliance would cause, the reprobation of some, 
and the laughter of others, and then her pride rose 
in arms. She thus on one day desired the mar- 
riage eagerly, while on the next she detested the 
thought of it, the vacillation depending upon the 
fact of her having between times seen or not seen 
M. de Lauzun. 

This struggle between the head and the heart 
was prolonged during several weeks ; 

finally, after having often passed and repassed the pro and 
con through my brain, my heart decided the affair, and it was 
in the Church of Recollects in which I took my final resolu- 
tion. Never had I felt so much devotion in church, and those 
who regarded me perceived that I was much absorbed; I be- 
lieve that God surprised me with His commands. The next 
day, which was the second of March, I was very gay. 

If Mademoiselle had been of the age of Juliet, 
this would have been a pretty romance. But she 
was perhaps slightly too mature to play with the 
grand passion. 

The man who was the cause of these agitations 
is one of the best-known fiofures of his times. 
Traces of him are found in all the contemporary 
writings. The singularity of his personality joined 
to the prodigies of his luck, good and bad, had 



La Grande Mademoiselle 243 

made him an object of interest to his contempora- 
ries. It was of him that La Bruyere said : " No 
one can guess how he lives." -^ The political world, 
the ministers at the head, observed him with an 
anxious attention, because he had accomplished the 
miracle of becoming the favourite of the King, 
while possessing precisely the defects which Louis 
XIV. feared the most. Lauzun did not attain the 
position of such a favourite as the Constable de 
Luynes under Louis XIII., but he secured suffi- 
cient influence to accumulate offices and honours. 

Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Marquis de Puy- 
guilhem, later Comte de Lauzun, was born in 1633 
(or 1632) of an ancient family of Perigord. His 
parents had nine children and nothing to give to 
the younger ones ; but their birth assured to this 
youthful throng access to the Court and hope of 
aid from it. The third of the boys resembled 
Poucet in form and also possessed his keenness of 
mind. It was decided to send him to seek his for- 
tune, not in the forest, as with the hero of the tale, 
but in the vicinity of the Court of France, the par- 
ents being- convinced that with his acuteness he 
would not permit himself to be eaten by the ogre, 
but would rather succeed in devouring others. 
^"^ The Marechal de Gramont, first cousin of the 
old Lauzun, saw arrive at his mansion a very little 
man, with the face of " a flayed cat," ^ surrounded 
with flaxen hair, who claimed to be fourteen years 

' See the portrait of Straton in the chapter entitled " De la Cour." 
^ Saint-Simon, Rcrits inedits. 



244 Louis XIV. and 

of age. This grotesque person was as lively as a 
sparrow and Gascon to the tips of his fingers. 

The Marshal kept him and provided for his 
education. In winter the little man went to the 
" academy " to learn to dance, to shoot, and to 
ride. In the summer he campaigned with a cavalry 
regiment belonging to his uncle. There was ap- 
parently no plan for serious study of any kind, nor 
even any attention paid to making the youth read. 
Complete ignorance was still accepted among the 
nobility without remark ; there had been little 
change for the better in this respect since the pre- 
vious century. The parents of Lauzun had well 
judged. In a short time the boy had wormed him- 
self into the most imposing mansions, the most 
sacred chambers. He was seen with the King, he 
was met In the company of beautiful ladies. The 
Court and the city became familiar with his fur- 
tive and Impudent physiognomy, which soon grew 
haughty and Insolent. At eighteen, his father gave 
him his first military charge. At twenty-four, he 
possessed a regiment ; then suddenly, when the 
King came to power, he received advancements, 
favours, an always Increasing and inexplicable 
credit, which aroused for him the hatred of Lou- 
vols, for In the frequent discussions In relation to 
the service, " the favourite always conquered." 
One of his tricks, which was unparalleled for im- 
pudence, and the discovery of which might well 
have crushed him for ever, ended In proving his 
strength. 




Cliche Braun, Clement & Cie. 
DUC DE LAUZUN 
By permission of Messrs. Hachette & Co. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 245 

At about the time when he attracted the atten- 
tion of the Grande Mademoiselle, the insatiable 
little man extracted from his master (under the 
condition of secrecy for fear of Louvois) the pro- 
mise of being shortly made Grand Master of Ar- 
tillery. Lauzun was foolish enough not to be 
silent. Louvois, once warned, made such strong 
and convincing opposition that the King was 
aroused, and the favourite heard no more of the 
appointment. In his anxiety he appealed to Mme. 
de Montespan. She was his great friend and 
promised her aid ; but he was distrustful and 
wished to "have his mind clear"; then occurred 
a scene which outraged Saint-Simon himself, as 
he related it long after. This writer avows in his 
Mdmoires that it would have been incredible " if 
the truth had not been attested by all the Court." 

Like most great workers, Louis XIV. was or- 
derly and methodical in everything. He had fixed 
hours for his ministers and for appearing in public, 
hours for his wife and for his mistresses. It could 
always be known where he was and what he was 
doing. Mme. de Montespan's hour was in the 
afternoon. With the complicity of a chambermaid 
Lauzun was introduced into the room, concealed 
himself under the bed, and by keeping his ears open 
soon " cleared his mind." Mme. de Montespan did 
not forget him in her conversation, but he heard 
himself severely criticised and his bad character 
exploited ; the slight dependence which could be 
placed upon him and his arrogance towards Louvois 



246 Louis XIV. and 

were also emphasised. All these charges were 
made with so much wit that the King, carried away, 
replied with almost as little charity. 

The listener under the bed, through rage and 
constraint, was thrown into a "great perspiration." 
Finally the King returned to his own affairs and 
Mme. de Montespan to hers, which were to attire 
themselves for a ballet. After her toilet, Ma- 
dame found Lauzon at her door. He offered his 
hand and demanded if he dared flatter himself that 
she had remembered him with the Kine. She as- 
sured him that she had not failed to do so, and 
expatiated upon "all the services which she had 
just rendered him." M. de Lauzun permitted her 
to finish, only forcing her to walk slowly, and then 
softly in a low voice repeated, word for word, all 
that had passed between the King and herself, 
without leaving out a single phrase ; and always 
retaining the sweet and gentle voice, he proceeded 
to call her the most infamous names, assured her 
that he would " spoil her face," and led her most 
unwillingly to the ballet, more dead than alive, and 
almost without consciousness. 

The King and Mme. de Montespan both believed 
that it was only the devil himself who could 
have so accurately reported what had been said. 
Royalty and the mistress were in trouble, and in 
a " horrible rage " ; they had not yet recovered their 
equanimity when the favourite recommenced his 
intrigues. 

Three days after this apparently inexplicable 



La Grande Mademoiselle 247 

event, he came to break his sword before the 
King, declaiming that he would no longer serve a 
prince who forswore his word for a — (the word 
cannot be repeated). The conduct of Louis 
XIV. at this juncture has remained famous. He 
opened the window and threw out his cane, saying 
that he should regret having struck a gentleman. 

The next day Lauzun found himself in the Bas- 
tile, and it might have been supposed for a long so- 
journ, under a monarch who never as a child had 
pardoned a lack of respect. The public was still 
more astonished to learn, at the end of the second 
month, that it was the King who sought pardon, 
and Lauzun who held his head high, refusing re- 
compense and asserting that the prison was prefer- 
able to the Court. 

The feelings of Louvois and others can be im- 
agined during the strange interchange of visits 
between Saint-Germain and the Bastile, for the 
purpose of obtaining from this dangerous person- 
age the acceptance of the much-desired charge of 
Captain of the Body Guard ; also the alarm at the 
prompt^ return of the favourite, more of a spoiled 
child than before the punishment. 

Whence came this credit with a prince so little 
susceptible to Influence, who had always pretended 
to be as opposed to the rule of favourites as of 
prime ministers? In what did this little Lauzun 
show special merit ? and what attracted women who 
pursued and sought his favour through cajoleries 

' Lauzun became Captain of the Body Guard in July, 1669. 



248 Louis XIV. and 

and gifts ? Litde Poucet he still was ; for he had 
not increased in stature. " He is," wrote Bussy- 
Rabutin, " one of the smallest men God has ever 
made."^ He had not become more beautiful. We 
can on this point believe the testimony of Ma- 
demoiselle herself. However strong her passion, 
she is yet able to paint Lauzun in these terms, 
writing to Mme. de Noailles : " He is a small man. 
No one can say that his figure is not the straightest, 
prettiest, most agreeable. The limbs are fine ; he 
has good presence in all that he does ; but little 
hair, blond mixed with grey, ill-combed, and often 
somewhat greasy ; fine blue eyes, but generally 
red; a shrewd air; a pretty countenance. His 
smile pleases. The end of his nose is pointed 
and red ; something elevated in his physiognomy ; 
very negligent in attire ; when, however, it appeals 
to him to be careful, he looks very well. Behold 
the man ! " 

This is not an alluring picture. There was but 
little to attract. It was murmured that he pos- 
sessed secret methods of making himself beloved. 
" As for his temper and manners," continues Ma- 
demoiselle, " I defy any one to understand them, 
to explain or to imitate them." The world was not 
entirely of this opinion. It could recognise at least 
that M. de Lauzun was " the most insolent little man 
born in the century," ^ also the most malicious. 
Many cruel traits were ascribed to him, and his 

' Letter to Mme. de Sevigne, dated February 2, 1669. 
* M^moires et Reflexions of the Marquis de la Fare. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 249 

fashion of turning on his heel and plunging into 
the crowd before his victims had regained their 
composure was well known. 

The world was also well assured that the favour- 
ite was an intriguer. Lauzun was always oc- 
cupied with some machination, even against those 
to whom he was indifferent ; this kept his hand in. 
For the rest, Mademoiselle was right ; he was not 
understood. He was very intelligent. His clever 
phrases were repeated. For example, his response 
to the wife of a minister who said rather foolishly, 
in emphasising the trouble her husband gave him- 
self : " There is nothinof more embarrassinof than the 
position of the one who holds la queue de la poele^ 
is there?" "Pardon, Madame, there are those 
who are within." 

But Lauzun also loved to play the imbecile and 
to utter with the tone of a simpleton phrases with- 
out sense ; he indulged in this singular taste even 
before the King. The contrast was great between 
his pretensions to the " haughty air" and the desire 
to be imposing and the habit of adorning himself 
in grotesque costumes in order to see whether any 
one dared to laugfh at M. de Lauzun. He was 
once found at home arrayed in a dressing gown 
and great wig, his mantle over the gown, a night- 
cap upon his wig, and a plumed hat above all. 
Thus attired, he walked up and down scanning his 
domestics, and woe to him who did not keep his 
countenance. 

He was at once avaricious and lavish, ungrateful 



250 Louis XIV. and 

and the reverse, delighting in evil but at the same 
time loyal as relative or friend while not ceasing to 
be dangerous. He undertook at one time to ad- 
vance in the world his nephew, lately come from 
Perigord. He furnished him with a purse and 
took the trouble to present him at Court, at which 
their apparition was an event. They were pointed 
out to every one, and no one, not even the King, 
composed as he was by profession, could help 
laughing; Lauzun had indulged in the fantasy of 
dressing his nephew in the costume of his grand- 
father. The poor lad felt so ridiculous that he 
almost died from shame, and fled from Paris with- 
out daring to show himself again. 

In this freak, his uncle had not acted maliciously : 
he had simply disregarded consequences. There 
was certainly a strain of madness in Lauzun. If 
not too large, a tinge of this kind often gives to 
people a certain fascination. It had captivated 
Mademoiselle, who in trying to define her attrac- 
tion for Lauzun was forced to conclude, " Finally, 
he pleased me ; and I love him passionately." 

The Kinpf had also not been insensible to this 
indefinable charm, but it must be said that he had 
been slightly dazzled by the perfection of the quali- 
ties of a courtier which were shown by this half- 
madman. The Court of France possessed no more 
servile being bowing down before the master than 
" the most insolent little man seen during the cent- 
ury." This Gascon played comedies of devotion 
for the benefit of Louis XIV. and flattered him in 



La Grande Mademoiselle 251 

the most shameful manner, which succeeded only 
too well. 

The King was persuaded that M. de Lauzun 
loved him alone, lived but for him, and had no 
thought apart, and the King was touched by this 
illusion. He found such absolute devotion de- 
lightful, and was ready to pardon much to the man 
who gave so good an example to other courtiers. 

But even in giving full weight to the originality 
and the unscrupulousness of this man, which un- 
doubtedly added to his force, and also bearing in 
mind that Louis XIV. did not entirely escape a 
certain terror which his favourite inspired, it is still 
difficult to account for a success so disproportioned 
to the merit. Lauzun had almost reached the 
heights when the mad strain became ascendant 
and ruined him. Once decided upon her desires, 
Mademoiselle became completely absorbed in find- 
ing the best means of satisfying these. The first 
steps appeared to be the most difficult. Consider- 
ing her rank, the advances must be made by her, 
and it fell to the Grande Mademoiselle to demand 
the hand of M. de Lauzun. Everything had been 
prepared and the Princess did not anticipate a re- 
fusal. But it was not sufficient to be married ; she 
wished to live her romance, to be loved, and to be 
told so, and this delight was not easy to attain. 
" I do not know," says she, " if he perceived what 
was in my heart. I was dying of desire to give 
him an opportunity to tell me what his feelings 
were to me. I knew not how to accomplish this." 



252 Louis XIV. and 

Probably in all the Court there did not exist 
another woman so naive as Mademoiselle in regard 
to the manipulation of a lover ! After having seri- 
ously thought over the matter, she decided upon 
a classic expedient. She resolved to tell Lauzun 
that it was a question of an alliance, and that she 
wished to ask his advice. If he loved her, he 
would certainly betray himself. She entered upon 
the attempt, on the same second of March on 
which she had awakened so gaily, and met her 
lover in the palace of the Queen, at the time when 
that lady retired to her oratoire to "pray God," 

While Marie-Therese was prolonging her de- 
votions a certain freedom was permitted in the 
anteroom. 

" I went to him and led him near a window. 
With his pride and his haughty air, he appeared to 
me the Emperor of all the world. I commenced : 
*You have testified so much friendship for me 
durine so longf a time, that I have the utmost con- 
fidence in you, and I do not wish to act without 
your advice.' " Lauzun protested, as was fitting, his 
gratitude and his devotion, and Mademoiselle con- 
tinued : " It is plainly to be seen that the King 
wishes to marry me to the Prince de Lorraine ; have 
you heard this mentioned?" No, he had "heard 
nothing of it." Mademoiselle poured out some 
confused explanations as to her reasons for wish- 
ing to remain in France, in the hope of finding at 
length true happiness. " For myself," concluded 
she, " I cannot love what I do not esteem." Lau- 



La Grande Mademoiselle 253 

zun approved all and demanded : " Do you think 
of marrying ? " She responded naively, "I become 
enraged when I hear people calculating upon my 
succession." "Ah," said he, "nothing would give 
me greater delight than to marry." At this mo- 
ment, the Queen came out of the oratoire and 
it was necessary to part. Lauzun had betrayed 
nothing. Nevertheless, Mademoiselle felt very 
happy : " I thought, there is one important step 
taken, and he can no longer mistake my senti- 
ments ; on the first occasion, I will learn his. I 
was well content with myself and with what I had 
done." 

Lauzun had in fact really comprehended that the 
Grande Mademoiselle was throwingf herself at his 
head, and he was well pleased to enter into the 
game at all risks, in order to gain what he could. 
Without actually reaching the marriage ceremony, 
the love of a grand princess can be of advantage in 
many ways. He took pains, therefore, to renew the 
conversation, and employed all his art, all his wit, 
in default of feeling, in keeping the flame alight in 
the breast of the old maid and in flattering the 
weaknesses which united with the movements of 
her heart in increasing the desire for marriage; 
Mademoiselle could not support the vision of the 
heirs always on the watch ; Lauzun accentuated and 
sympathised with her annoyance at overhearing 
such phrases as " This one will have that territory, 
another will inherit this land." " I find your vexa- 
tion very reasonable," said he, " for one should live 



254 Louis XIV. and 

as long as possible and not love those who desire 
our death." 

Mademoiselle could not resign herself to growing 
old. This was not coquetry, of which she could not 
be accused ; it was the conviction that on account 
of her high birth she was a privileged creature. 
She said very seriously, " People of my quality are 
always young," and she dressed as at twenty, and 
continued to dance. 

Lauzun attacked this delicate subject and did not 
hesitate to speak unpleasant truths before offering 
the soothing balm held in reserve. It was his habit 
to treat women brutally in order to make them sub- 
missive, and in this case there were double reasons 
for doine so. " His maxim," relates Saint-Simon, 
" was that the Bourbons must be rudely treated and 
the rod must be held high over their heads, without 
which no empire could be preserved over them." 
This system had succeeded tolerably well with 
Louis XIV. Lauzun could well believe, in these 
early times, that it would also be successful with his 
cousin, so humbly did she accept his harshness. 

He said to her : " I find that you are right to take 
a husband, nothing in the world being so ridiculous, 
no matter what may be the rank, as to see a woman 
of forty wrapped up in the pleasures of the world, 
like a girl of fifteen, who thinks of nothing else. 
At this aee, a woman should be a nun or at least a 
ddvote, or she should remain at home modestly 
dressed." 

He admitted that Mademoiselle, on account of her 



La Grande Mademoiselle 255 

high rank, might constitute an exception, and that 
she might be permitted at long intervals to hear 
one or two acts of the opera ; but her duty as old 
maid was " to attend vespers, and to listen to ser- 
mons, to receive the benediction, to go to as- 
semblies for the poor, and to the hospitals." Or 
else to marry; this was the alternative which pointed 
his moral. " For once married," continued he, " a 
woman can go anywhere at any age ; she dresses 
like others, to please her husband, and goes to 
amusements because he wishes his wife not to 
appear peculiar." 

Every word impressed itself on the mind of the 
loving Princess. When Saint-Simon, who was inti- 
mate with Lauzun, read the Mhnoires of Mademoi- 
selle, he found the account of this adventure so 
true and lively that he renounced the attempt to 
relate it himself. " Whoever knew Lauzun will at 
once recognise him in all that Mademoiselle relates, 
and his voice can almost be heard." Through a 
very natural contradiction, the Grande Mademoi- 
selle,' even at the height of her passion, preserved 
*' some regret that she would no longer be queen 
in foreign lands." Lauzun tried to banish this re- 
gret. He represented to her that the trouble of 
playing at royalty 

surpassed the pleasure. If you had been really Queen or 
Empress you would soon have been bored. . . . You can 
now dwell here all your life. ... If you desire to marry 
you can raise a man to be the equal in grandeur and power to 
sovereigns. Above all, he will realise that you have taken 



256 Louis XIV. and 

pleasure in bringing him to prominence; he will be deeply 
grateful. It would not be needful to describe the man who 
may possess so much honour; for in pleasing you and in being 
your choice, he must of necessity be an estimable being. He 
will lack nothing; but where is he? 

This language, so clear in its import to the reader, 
did not entirely satisfy Mademoiselle. The poor 
Princess was ever expecting an avowal or caresses 
which never came. Lauzun acted the disinterested 
friend, the person who was entirely out of the run- 
ning, and he detailed all the reasons which made 
an unequal marriage distasteful to him. Far from 
seeking her, he held himself at a respectful distance 
when he met her. "It was I," says she, "who 
sought him." His reserve and his reticence added 
fuel to the flames, and this diverted him, but for the 
moment he did not dare to promise himself any- 
thing more than greater credit at Court. 

In the meantime, the Duchesse de Longueville^ 
wished to establish the Count de Saint-Paul, the 
one of her sons who resembled " infinitely " La 
Rochefoucauld. In spite of the great difference in 
age — her son was only twenty — she thought of 
Mademoiselle, who remained by far the best match 
in the kingdom, and commenced overtures. These 
were eluded, but with a gentleness which astonished 
the social world. Mademoiselle had her reasons : 
" For myself, who had my own desires buried in 
my heart, it did not at all vex me that the report 

1 The sister of the Grand Conde. Upon her part in the Fronde, see The 
Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 257 

should be spread that there was question of 
marrying me to M. de Longueville. ^ It occurred to 
me that this might in some measure accustom 
people to my future action." 

For once, the diplomacy of Mademoiselle did not 
prove a failure, and her calculations were found to 
be justified. Some days later, when the affair was 
being discussed before Lauzun, one of his friends, 
who had perceived that the Princess was listening 
with pleasure, asked him why he did not try his 
fortune.^ Others joined in the suggestion and 
all assured him that nothing was impossible for a 
man so advanced in the good graces of the King. 
Lauzun expressed himself shocked at the idea of an 
alliance with Mademoiselle ; but on returning to his 
lodging, he ruminated the entire night upon this 
conversation, and from that time the thought did 
not appear to him so chimerical. It was necessary, 
however, to delay the assurance ; the King led the 
Court into Flanders and gave the command of the 
escort to his favourite. 

This was a political journey. Spain had been 
vanquished almost without resistance in the war of 
Devolution^ (1667-1668). Louis XIV. deemed It 

^ M. de Saint-Paul began toward this time to bear the name of de 
Longueville. 

^ This conversation, which gives the key to the conduct of Lauzun, is re- 
ported in Le Perroquet or Les amours de Mademoiselle, an anonymous recital 
printed by M. Livet following the Hisioire amoureuse des Gaules (Paris, 
Jannet, 1857); and in the Hisioire de Mademoiselle et du Comte de Losun 
(Bibl. Saint-Genevieve MS. 3208), not always sources to be relied on, but to 
be trusted here. 

'War between relatives for the succession. 
17 



258 Louis XIV. and 

useful to display French royalty in all its pomp to the 
populations lately united with his kingdom, by the 
treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (May 2, 1668), and all 
prepared to make a fine figure in a spectacle whose 
strangeness finds nothing analogous in modern 
life. 

In 1658, Loret the journalist had valued at about 
twelve hundred souls (the servitors were not in- 
cluded) the convoy formed by the Court at its de- 
parture for Lyons. This figure was certainly 
surpassed in 1670, when the royal family alone, 
more than complete, since it included Mme. de 
Montespan and Mile, de La Valliere, took in their 
train a suite of several thousand persons, not count- 
ing the army of escorts. 

This suite was composed of ladies and maids of 
honour, gentlemen, pages, domestics of all orders 
and of both sexes, footmen and valets of valets. 
The King even brought his nurse with him. On 
the other hand, the nobility were better disciplined 
than in the times of Mazarin and Anne of Austria, 
and no one had dared to remain behind. The de- 
parture was from Saint-Germain, April 28. Pellison 
wrote the next day to his friend Mile, de Scudery : 
" It is impossible to tell you how numerous the 
Court is ; it is much larger than at Saint-Germain 
or Paris. Every one has followed."-^ 

The quantity of luggage gave to this crowd the 
appearance of a wandering nomadic tribe. All the 
personages of high rank took with them complete 

^ Lettres historiques. Pellison accompanied the Court as historiographer. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 259 

sets of furniture. Louis XIV. had on this journey 
*' a chamber of crimson damask," for ordinary use, 
and another "very magnificent" where greater ac- 
commodation would be had. The bed of the last was 
" of green velvet embroidered with gold, immensely 
large, which could of itself fill several small rooms." 
There were also entire suites of needful furniture 
when the King lodged at his ease, and the same 
for the Queen, beautiful Gobelin tapestries and a 
quantity of silver plaques, ^ chandeliers of silver, 
and other pieces. 

The commissary department carried a monster 
cooking Apparatus and necessary utensils to supply, 
morning and evening, several large tables with food 
served on plated dishes. When all was unpacked, 
their Majesties were " almost as at the Tuileries." 

Monsieur could not do without pretty things 
nor infinite variation of toilet ; he was much en- 
cumbered on a journey. Mademoiselle, demanding 
little, had nevertheless her rank to maintain, and 
her "campaign chamber" was imposing. On one 
journey, she was obliged to lodge ten days in a 
peasant's hut where the ceilings were so low that it 
was necessary to increase the height of the room 
by digging out the ground which formed the floor, 
in order to erect the canopy of her bed. Those of 
the courtiers obliged, from their rank as chiefs of 
Commandments, to keep open table led with them 
a staff of domestics and enough material for an 

' Plaques: pieces of embossed silver, at the lower part of which was placed 
a chandelier. 



26o Louis XIV. and 

itinerant inn. Others wished to make themselves 
conspicuous by the fineness of their equipage. 
That of Lauzun had been much admired at his de- 
parture from Paris. " He passed through the St. 
Honore," wrote Mademoiselle, who had come across 
him by chance ; " he was very splendid and magnifi- 
cent." The most modest carried at least a camp- 
bed, under pain of sleeping upon mother earth 
during the entire trip. 

The train of chariots, carts, and horses, or mules 
with pack-saddles, which rolled along the route to 
Flanders in 1670, can be pictured; also the dififi- 
culty of uniting luggage and owner when the rest- 
ing-places were scattered over an entire village or 
group of villages ; the accidents of all sorts which 
happened to the caravan, on roads almost always in 
a frightful condition, and in traversing rivers often 
without bridges ; the indifference of some, the im- 
patience of others, and the universal disorder ; the 
anguish of losing one's cooks if one were a Marie- 
Therese, the desolation of not findingr the rouo;e 
and powder if one were Monsieur or some pretty 
woman ! Surely those who preserved their equa- 
nimity through such trials and under excessive 
fatigue deserve praise. 

Louis XIV. was a good traveller, arranged every- 
thing for himself, and expected others to do as 
much. He detested groans, timid women, and 
those to whom a bed was important. The Queen 
Marie-Therese began to grumble before actually 
stepping into her coach, and the fact that she was 



La Grande Mademoiselle 261 

in a placid frame of mind during a trip was spread 
far and wide as a piece of good news. The frugal 
suppers and the nights passed in a waggon, while 
awaiting the carriage which had missed the way, 
appeared to her frightful calamities. The bad 
condition of the roads made her weep, and she ut- 
tered loud cries in traversing fords. She was once 
found in tears, stopping the horses in the open 
plain and refusing to go on or to turn back. An 
intelligent interest in new surroundings did not give 
her compensation for her woes, for she possessed 
no curiosity. The conferences with which the King 
entertained the ladies along the route, upon mili- 
tary tactics and fortifications, mortally bored and 
wearied the poor Queen, and she did not know how 
to conceal her feelings. 

To tell the truth, among all the women who 
pressed behind the King upon the ramparts of the 
cities or on the fortifications of old battle-fields, 
appearing to absorb his words and explanations, 
Mademoiselle was the only one who really list- 
ened with pleasure. Since the exploits during the 
Fronde, the Princess had always considered her- 
self as belonging to the profession of arms. 

Monsieur had one great resource in travelling. 
When he joined the King, he brought with him 
some choice bits of gossip which entertained the 
entire coach. In the eveningf when the beds were 
being anxiously awaited, he started games, or or- 
dered the King's violins and gave a dance. If no 
other place offered, the company would use a barn 



262 Louis XIV. and 

for the impromptu ball. Monsieur, however, was 
much annoyed at any mishaps which might inter- 
fere with his toilet, and could never take accidents 
of this kind lightly. 

The journey of 1670 was made more difficult 
by torrents of rain, and the one who was gener- 
ally drenched was the Commander-in-chief of the 
troops, who was obliged to stand with uncovered 
head to receive the King's orders. Monsieur 
looked with a sort of indignation upon the piteous 
countenance of Lauzun, his hair uncurled and drip- 
ping, and once said : " Nothing would induce me to 
show myself in such a condition. He does not 
look at all well with his wet hair ; I have never 
seen a man so hideous."^ 

Mademoiselle was more indignant than Mon- 
sieur ; chiefly over the fact that any one could con- 
sider M. de Lauzun ugly " in any state," and that 
the King should gaily expose him to the risk of 
catching cold. " M. de Lauzun Is always without 
a hat and has his head drenched. I said to the King, 
' Sire, command him to cover his head ; he will be 
ill.' I said this so repeatedly that I was afraid my 
solicitude would be noticed." 

Mademoiselle cared but little on her'own account 
for the discomforts of the journey. No woman 
made fewer grimaces at a bad supper, or for being 
forced to make a bedchamber of her carriage, and 
sometimes to sleep upon a chair. She did not, 
however, enjoy the reputation of being a good 

' M/moires of Mademoiselle. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 263 

traveller, on account of the insurmountable terror 
which water inspired. During a ford, she cried out 
as loudly as the Queen ; the signs of the King's im- 
patience could not restrain her ; " as soon as I see 
it," said she, of the water, " I no longer know what 
I am doing." 

The rest of the party belonging to the caravan re- 
signed themselves to the discomforts of camping 
through "the grace of God." It was realised that 
any expression of discontent caused the danger of 
incurring the royal displeasure, and discomfort was 
expected as a neccessary accompaniment of a royal 
progress. 

In 1667, the Court had passed one night at the 
Chateau of Mailly near Amiens. The Abbe de 
Montigny, Almoner of the Queen, wrote the next 
day to some friends, " Mailly, ladies, is a caravan- 
sary. There was such a crowd that Mme. de 
Montausier slept upon a heap of straw in a cup- 
board, the daughters of the Queen in a barn on 
some wheat, and your humble servant on a pile of 
charcoal."^ In 1670 the account of the night of the 
3d of May filled many letters. May 3d had been 
a painful day. The immense convoy had de- 
parted from Saint-Quentin for Landrecies at an 
early hour, during a beating rain, which had visibly 
increased the watercourses and swamps. Hour by 
hour the vehicles sank deeper in the mud and the 
roads were encumbered with horses and mules, 

* De La Vallilre a Montespan, by Jean Lemoine and Andre Lichten- 
berger. 



264 Louis XIV. and 

dead or overcome, with carts sunk in the mire, and 
with overturned baggage. It was not long before 
the chariots met the same fate. The Marechal de 
Bellefonte was forced to abandon his in a slough, 
and make the remainder of his way to the resting- 
place on foot, in the company of Benserade and two 
others. M. de CrussoP met the water above the 
doors of the carriage in traversing the Sambre, and 
M. de Bouligneux,^ who followed him, was forced to 
unharness in the middle of the stream and to save 
himself on one of the horses. When it came to the 
Queen and Mademoiselle, it was in vain to promise 
to conduct them to another ford reported as " very 
safe." Their cries and agitation were such that the 
attempt was abandoned. They sought shelter in 
the single habitation on the bank. It was a poor 
hut composed of two connecting rooms with only 
the ground for floor ; on entering. Mademoiselle 
sank up to the knees in a muddy hole. Landrecies 
was upon the other bank of the Sambre. The night 
fell and all were dying with hunger, for there had 
been no meal since Saint-Quentin. The King, very 
discontented, declared that no further attempt 
should be made to proceed and the night should be 
passed in the carriages. Mademoiselle remounted 
into hers, put on her nightcap and undressed. She 
could not, however, close her eyes ; " for there was 
such a frightful noise." Some one said, " The King 

' Emmanuel II. de Crussol, Due d'Uzes. He married the daughter of 
the Due de Montausier and of Julie d'Angennes. 
^ Probably the uncle by marriage of Bussy-Rabutin. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 265 

and Queen are going to sup." Mademoiselle 
ordered herself borne through the mud into the hut, 
and found the Queen very sulky. Marie-Therese 
had no bed and was lamenting, saying ** that she 
would be ill if she did not sleep," and demanding 
what was the pleasure in such journeyings. 

Louis XIV. added the last touch to her vexation 
in proposing that the entire royal family and some 
intimates should sleep in the largest of the two 
rooms, letting the other serve as a military head- 
quarters for Lauzun. " Look," said the King, 
** they are bringing mattresses ; Romecourt ^ has 
an entirely new bed upon which you can sleep." 
" What ! " cried the Queen, " sleep all together in 
one room ? that will be horrible ! " " But," rejoined 
the King, " you '11 be completely dresssed. There 
can be no harm. I find none." Mademoiselle, 
chosen as arbitrator, found no impropriety, and 
the Queen yielded. 

The city of Landrecies had provided their sover- 
eigns with a "bouillon very thin," the distasteful 
appearance of which alarmed Marie-Therese. She 
refused it with disgust. When it was well under- 
stood that she would not touch it, the King and 
Mademoiselle, aided by Monsieur and Madame, de- 
voured it in an instant ; as soon as it was all gone, 
the Queen said, " I wanted some soup and you 
have eaten it all." Every one began to laugh, in 
spite of etiquette ; when there appeared a large 
dish of chicken cutlets, also sent from Landrecies, 

' Romecourt was Lieutenant of the King's Guards. 



266 Louis XIV. and 

which was eaten with avidity, soothing the injured 
feehngs of the Queen. " The dish contained," re- 
lates Mademoiselle, "meat so hard that it took all 
one's strength to pull a chicken apart." 

When the company retired for the night, those 
not yet prepared arrayed themselves in nightcaps 
and dressing-gowns,^ and French royalty for this 
memorable night must be represented in the ap- 
parel of Argan. 

In the corner of the chimney, upon the bed of 
Romecourt, lay the Queen, turned so that she might 
see all that was passing. " You have only to keep 
open your curtain," suggested the King ; " you 
will be able to see us all." 

Near to the Queen, upon a mattress, lay Mme. 
de Bethune, the lady of honour, and Mme. de 
Thianges, sister of Mme. de Montespan, pressed 
together for lack of space. Monsieur and Ma- 
dame, Louis XIV., and the Grande Mademoiselle, 
Mile, de La Valliere, and Mme. de Montespan, a 
duchess and a maid of honour were crowded on 
the remaining mattresses, placed at right angles 
and proving a most troublesome obstruction to the 
officers going and coming on official business to the 
headquarters in the other room. Happily, the King 
at length ordered Lauzun to use a hole in the outer 
wall for his commands. The royal dormitory was 
at last left in peace, and the occupants could 
slumber. 

' It is evident that these last were carried in the private carriages, ready 
for any accident. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 267 

At four in the morning, Louvois gave warn- 
ing that a bridge had been built. Mademoiselle 
awakened the King and all got up. It was not 
a beautiful spectacle. Locks were hanging in 
disorder and countenances were wrinkled. Ma- 
demoiselle believed herself less disfigured than the 
others, because she felt very red, and she rejoiced, 
as she found it impossible to avoid the glance of 
Lauzun. The royal party mounted into their car- 
riages and attended mass at Landrecies, after which 
these august personages went to bed and reposed a 
portion of the day. 

The same evening Mademoiselle, only half 
aroused, was severely scolded by Lauzun for her ri- 
diculous dread of the water. This was very sweet 
to her ; it being the first time he had taken such a 
liberty, and the most passionate women in the early 
days of love adore the masterful tone. The two 
saw each other less often than at Saint-Germain, 
but with more freedom. The chances of travel gave, 
from time to time, the opportunity for long t6te-a- 
tetes, by which they profited ; she, to become more 
pressing, he, to make himself more keenly desired. 

Lauzun said one day that he thought of retiring 
from the world. " I am having a vision of such 
beautiful and great hopes ; and if they are only 
delusions I shall die of grief." 

'* But," said Mademoiselle, "do you never think 
of marrying ? " 

"The one thing of importance in marriage," re- 
plied he, "would be belief in the virtue of the lady, 



268 Louis XIV. and 

for if there had been the sHghtest lapse I would 
have none of her ; even if it were a question of 
yourself, far above others as you are ! " 

He said this because there was a rumour that 
the King had the plan of marrying Mile, de La 
Valliere to his favourite. 

Mademoiselle cried out ingenuously : " But you 
would wish me ; for I am good. ' Do not talk even 
delightful nonsense, when we are speaking seri- 
ously.' But return then to me." 

This was precisely what he did not wish. He 
recollected all at once that the Venetian Ambassa- 
dor was expecting him. 

On another occasion, Mademoiselle said to him, 
in confessing the fact that she was " entirely re- 
solved to marry," and that her choice was made : 
" I intend to speak to the King, and to have the 
wedding in Flanders ; that will make less stir 
than at Paris." 

" Ah, I beseech you not to do this ! " cried Lau- 
zun alarmed, for he did not consider the ground 
sufficiently prepared, " I do not wish it ; . . . 
I am absolutely opposed to it." Some days after, 
they were together looking through a window and 
exchanging impressions upon the persons of quality 
who were passing, " their forms, their bearing, their 
appearance, their wit." At length, Lauzun re- 
marked, "Judging by what I hear, none of these 
would suit you?" "Assuredly not," replied Ma- 
demoiselle, " I wish that the person of my choice 
might go by, that I could point him out to you." 



La Grande Mademoiselle 269 

As every one had now passed, she continued : 
" He must be sought, there is still some one else." 
After this, relates her MSmoires, " he smiled and we 
talked of something else." 

They had arrived at the point of smiles and 
mutual intelligence. Nevertheless the Court re- 
turned to Saint-Germain (June 7th) without Ma- 
demoiselle having obtained the decisive word for 
which she was meekly begging. Lauzun opposed 
some barriers to every advance. Acting through 
prudence or calculation, he was to have cause to 
congratulate himself. 

Fifteen days elapsed in ddtours and feigned 
flights. Mademoiselle was exasperated. Compre- 
hending perfectly well that a Gascony cadet could 
not say bluntly, " Take me ! " she still was so little 
capable of subterfuge that she found the " man- 
ners of M. de Lauzun towards her extraordinary." 
Lauzun was too subtle for one so simple. La 
Bruyere himself was going to renounce the hope of 
penetrating into his motives, and to avow it in the 
passage in which he paints him under the name of 
Straton : " A character equivocal, unintelligible ; 
an enigma ; a problem never solved." 

Persuaded that her lover held back through re- 
spect, Mademoiselle resolved to attack affairs 
boldly. On June 20th, she went to enjoy the 
diversions of the fine season ^ at Versailles. Mon- 
sieur and Madame were at their chateau at Saint- 
Cloud. Mademoiselle followed the Court. Lauzun 

' Gazette de Renatidot. 



270 Louis XIV. and 

was absent, but he took pains from time to time to 
appear in the Queen's salon. One evening, when 
he had met Mademoiselle and when he was chaffing 
her on the subject of the Due de Longueville, the 
Princess said to him vivaciously : " Assuredly I 
shall marry ; but it will not be with that person. I 
pray that I may speak with you to-morrow, for 
I am resolved to address the King and I desire 
that all should be finished before July ist." He 
replied : " I am going to-morrow to Paris, and Sun- 
day without fail I shall be here, and we will then 
talk over everything ; I begin also to desire to have 
all ended." 

On Sunday (June 29th), towards evening, Lauzun 
had not yet arrived. Mademoiselle was notified 
that the Queen was awaiting her for the daily drive. 
She went out quickly, and ran across the Comte 
d'Ayen,-* who had also an appearance of being 
in haste, and who said to her in passing, " Madame 
is dying ; I am seeking M. Vallot,^ whom the King 
has commanded me to lead to her ! " Below in 
her carriage the Queen related the tale of the glass 
of chicory water and the fact that Madame believed 
herself to be poisoned. All were astonished and 
exclaimed, " Ah, what a horror ! " People looked 
at each other and did not know what to do. Marie- 
Ther^se descended from her carriage and was 
peacefully entering a boat on the grand canal, 

' Captain of the Body Guard. Afterward, Due de Noailles, and Marshal 
of France. 

^ First physician to the King. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 271 

when a gentleman arrived in haste ; Madame was 
in extremity and besought the Queen not to delay 
if she wished to see her alive. The chateau was 
speedily regained, where the confusion recom- 
menced. The Queen demanded every instant : 
" What shall I dol What shall I do ? " She could 
not decide to go herself, and she prevented Made- 
moiselle from departing without her. Finally, the 
King appeared. He took the Queen in his coach 
with Mademoiselle and the Comtesse de Soissons. 
Mile, de La Valliere and Mme. de Montespan fol- 
lowed. It was eleven o'clock when the royal family 
descended at the gate of the Chateau Saint-Cloud. 

The spectacle which awaited it has been de- 
scribed a hundred times. A poor little dishevelled 
figure, pathetic from suffering, and already drawn 
by the approach of the dying agony, lay upon the 
bed. The unfastened chemise permitted her ema- 
ciation to be seen, and she was so pale that if it had 
not been for her cries it might have been thought 
that the end had already come. We know through 
Mme. de La Fayette ^ that the first sentiments of 
the spectators had been those of pity, natural in 
such a case, and here doubled by the sight of 
the frightful sufferings and the gentleness of this 
young and charming being in the presence of 
death. The state of Madame had touched even her 
husband, so embittered against her by her frivol- 
ities, and only the sound of "weeping was heard in 
the chamber." 

^ Histoire de Madame Henrietie d^Angleterre. 



2 72 Louis XIV. and 

With the entrance of the sovereigns and their 
suite the aspect of the room was at once altered. 
Louis was indeed sincerely affected, Mademoiselle 
much moved, and many of the others felt '' that 
they were losing with Madame all the joy, all the 
agreeableness, all the pleasures of the Court." ^ But 
egotism and intrigue marched on the heels of their 
Majesties. Even while weeping, each began to 
dream over the consequences of this death. Who 
would inherit the prestige of Madame ? Whom 
would Monsieur marry? Would it be the Grande 
Mademoiselle ? How would this affect the inter- 
ests of each ? The dying woman felt a sudden chili 
in the atmosphere. " She perceived with pain the 
tranquillity of every one," reports Mademoiselle, 
''and I have never seen any sight so pitiable as her 
state when she realised the real attitude of those 
surrounding her bed. The crowd kept on talking, 
moving about in the room, almost laughing." 

Monsieur was only " astonished " at what was 
happening. Mademoiselle having urged him to 
send for a priest, he said, " Whom shall we call ? 
Whose name will appear well in the Gazette f " 
This preoccupation truly reveals Monsieur. 

After the departure of the King, who took away 
others in his train, the scene again changed. Mon- 
sieur had sent for Bossuet, who, in a letter to one 
of his brothers, has related details of these last 
hours. To judge from this letter, it appears 
that the presence of the priest at the bedside of 

* Mme. de Sevigne to Bussy-Rabutin. Letter of July 6, 1670. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 273 

Madame turned all minds from terrestrial preoccu- 
pations and banished all thoughts except those 
impressed by the grandeur of death. Madame 
herself gave the example, proving with her last 
sigh that she felt she was accomplishing " the most 
important action of life." ^ " I found her fully con- 
scious," said Bossuet, "speaking and acting without 
ostentation, without effort, without violence ; but 
so well, so suitably, with so much courage and 
piety, that I was completely overcome." Thus God 
had the last word ! 

On returning to Versailles, the Queen quietly 
ate her supper. Mademoiselle perceived Lauzun 
among those present. " In rising from table, I 
said to him, 'This is very disconcerting,' He re- 
plied, * Very, and I am afraid that it may spoil our 
plans.' I responded, ' Ah, no. No matter what 
may happen.' " 

The poor woman could not sleep during the 
night : how rid herself of Monsieur, if the King 
should wish " the marriage " ? At six in the morn- 
ing, word came from Saint-Cloud that Madame was 
dead. " At this news," continues Mademoiselle, 
" the King resolved to take medicine," and Ma- 
demoiselle, arriving with the Queen, found him in 
a dressing-gown, weeping bitterly over the loss of 
Madame, and very tenderly pitying his own woe. 
He said to Mademoiselle : " Come, watch me take 
medicine ; let us make no more fuss ; better act as 

' Mme. de Sevigne to Bussy-Rabutin (letter dated January 15, 1687), 
speaking of Conde's death. 



2 74 Louis XIV. and 

I am doing." After his draught he retired, and 
the morning was passed in his bedchamber speaking 
of the dead. 

In the afternoon, the King dressed and went to 
consult Mademoiselle, as the great authority in 
matters of Court etiquette, upon the proper ar- 
rangements for the funeral ceremony. After these 
details had been discussed, the King spoke the word 
she was expecting and dreading : *' ' My cousin, here 
is a vacant place, will you fill it ? ' I became pale as. 
death, and said, * You are the master, your wish is 
mine.' He urged me to speak frankly. I said, 
* I can say nothing about this.' * But have you 
any aversion to the idea ? ' I was silent ; he went 
on, * I will further the affair and report to you.' " 

In the salons, the crowd of courtiers was busily 
engaged In remarrying Monsieur. The question 
was, " To whom ? " and every one looked at the 
Grande Mademoiselle. Lauzun bore the situation 
like a man of spirit, without troubling himself with 
useless regrets or feigning a loving despair which 
was very foreign to his nature. H is manner was free, 
very gay, too easy to please Mademoiselle when 
he congratulated her and refused to listen to her pro- 
testations that "It would never be." "The King 
said that he wished you would marry Monsieur ; it 
will be necessary to obey." He besought her not to 
hesitate, and dilated on the joys of grandeur, and 
the happiness she might have with Monsieur. She 
responded, " I am more than fifteen, and I do not. 
propose to accept a life fit only for children." 



La Grande Mademoiselle 275 

Of all the honours attached to the rank of sister- 
in-law to the King, one alone appealed to her, — 
that she would then have a good place in the royal 
carriage, instead of being always on the basket seat, 
and she represented to Lauzun that the "good 
place would not long remain vacant." It would be 
assigned to the children of the King as soon as 
they should be grown up. Once he added : *' The 
past must be forgotten. I remember nothing of 
what you have told me ; I have lately forgotten all." 

Another time, he showed that he was not ignorant 
of what he was losing. She had just repeated, 
" Ah, this shall never be ! " " But yes," rejoined 
Lauzun, " I shall be glad ; for I prefer your grand- 
eur to my own joy and fortune ; I owe you too 
much to feel otherwise." " He had never before 
admitted as much," remarks Mademoiselle. After 
such delightful conversations, she shut herself up 
to weep. The idea of marrying Monsieur was 
odious to her, for other reasons besides the desires 
aroused by her passion. 

Not that she suspected him of having poisoned 
his wife. Mademoiselle considered her cousin in- 
capable of such a crime. But she could not bear 
the thought of the many favourites of Monsieur 
and of their power. One of these, M. de Beuvron,^ 
had confirmed this repugnance by coming inso- 
lently and inopportunely to assure her of his protec- 
tion and of that of the Chevalier de Lorraine. He 

1 Charles d'Harcourt, chevalier, afterward Comte de Beuvron, was one of 
those whom rumour accused of having contributed to the death of Madame. 



276 Louis XIV. and 

frankly told her : " It will be more to our advan- 
tage to have you than a German princess without 
a sou, who would only be an expense, while you 
have so much that the allowance of Monsieur can 
be spent for his liberalities ; thus we shall come off 
better." This was not a clever address to a prin- 
cess who sincerely loved money. The following 
displayed even less tact : " If we aid in making 
your marriage, you will be under obligation to us, 
and you will realise our power." 

Mademoiselle heard all and recounted the con- 
versation to the King. " He has spoken like a 
fool," said Louis with his shrewd common-sense. 
Mademoiselle could not resign herself to this alli- 
ance, and Lauzun trembled lest he should be held 
responsible. He came once again, to find the 
Princess with the Queen, and said to her : 

I come very humbly to supplicate, that yoa will speak no 
more to me. I am most unhappy at displeasing Monsieur. 
He might believe that all the difficulties you are making come 
from me. Thus I shall no longer enjoy the honour of address- 
ing you. Do not summon me, for I shall not respond. Do 
not write to me, nor address me in any way. I am in despair 
to be forced to act in this fashion ; but I must do so for love 
of you. 

She equivocated, tried to retain him. He re- 
peated to her his accustomed refrain that he must 
obey, and coldly took leave while she cried out : 
" Do not go away ! What, shall I speak to you no 
more?" From that day Lauzun carefully avoided 
her. One day, when Mademoiselle requested him 



La Grande Mademoiselle 277 

to re-knot her muff ribbon, he replied " that he was 
not sufficiently adroit," and yielded to Mile, de 
La Valliere. He even avoided glancing in her 
direction. 

Louis XIV. had found his brother well convinced 
of the advantage of marrying many millions ; Mon- 
sieur only demanded delay, not wishing, with the 
rumours which were circulating, to appear too eager 
to replace the dead. Mademoiselle also on her 
side was endeavouring to hinder the progress of 
affairs. Success crowned the efforts of both, and 
the month of September was well advanced when 
the King said to his cousin in the presence of the 
Queen : " My brother has spoken to me ; he wishes 
in case you have no children that you should make 
his daughter your heir,^ and he says he will be well 
content not to have any more offspring, provided 
he is assured that my daughter shall marry his son. 
I counselled him to desire children, because this 
could not be a certainty." 

Monsieur was thirteen years younger than Ma- 
demoiselle, and the latter very well understood the 
significance of words. She began to laugh. ** I 
have never heard persons on the brink of marriage 
say that they did not wish children, and I hardly 
know whether this is a courteous proposition. 
What does your Majesty think ? " The King 
also laughed. " My brother has said so many 

^ Monsieur had two daughters by his first marriage ; Marie-Louise 
d'Orleans, who married, in 1679, Charles II. of Spain, and Anne-Marie de 
Valois, married, in 1684, to Victor- Amedee II., Due de Savoie. 



278 Louis XIV. and 

ridiculous things on this subject that I have ad- 
vised silence." 

The joking continued in spite of the Queen, who 
cried out, " This is really disagreeable ! " Finally, 
Mademoiselle concluded in a serious tone : " Al- 
though I am no longer young, I have not reached 
the age at which children are impossible. . . . 
Such suggestions are most disagreeable to me." The 
King also became serious, and warned his cousin 
that she could never expect from him the gift of 
any government or any appointment which would 
permit the exercise of power, but only precious 
stones and furniture and other playthings. This 
again was a lesson from the Fronde, and in his 
Memoir es ^ Louis confirms this same resolution. 
Mademoiselle thanked her cousin somewhat ironi- 
cally for what he had done to render Monsieur de- 
sirable, and, realising by the questions of the King 
that some hints had reached his ears, she pictured 
in covered words the future of which she had had a 
glimpse. The Queen demanded her meaning, but 
the King remained silent. " I do hope," observed 
Mademoiselle in ending, " that I may be permitted 
to act as I wish and that the King will not force 
me against my desires," " No, surely," replied 
Louis, " I will leave you free and will never 
constrain any one " ; he added an instant after, 
" Let us go to dinner," and they separated. Some 
weeks rolled by. The favourites of Monsieur were 

' Cf. Mdmoires de Louis XIV. " for the year 1666." Edited by Charles 
Dreyss. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 279 

cold about an alliance which the temper of Made- 
moiselle might make somewhat difficult, and which 
might in the end prove not to their advantage.^ 

Events moved quietly enough when the Princess 
one evening in October supplicated the King that 
there should be no more said of the project. Louis 
XIV. appeared to be indifferent. Monsieur was at 
first vexed and then dismissed the subject from his 
thoughts. Marie-Therese alone, interested neither 
in her brother-in-law nor in her cousin, "was in de- 
spair," relates Mademoiselle, " for she wishes that 
we should marry and have children." But no one 
paid much attention to the despair of Marie- 
Therese. Lauzun approved the course of Ma- 
demoiselle and ceased to avoid her. That was 
all. For an ambitious man, he was not a really 
clever schemer ; he had too great a fear of being 
duped. He again assumed a sombre attitude and 
refused to hear the name of the one chosen by 
Mademoiselle. On a certain Thursday evening, 
when she had menaced him with the threat of 
breathing against the mirror and of writing the 
name of the man she loved, midnight sounded dur- 
ing this contest. " Nothing more can be said," 
observed Mademoiselle, " for it is already Friday." 
The next day, taking a sheet of paper, she wrote 
distinctly, " It is you," and sealed it. " That day I 
met him only on the way to supper. I said : * I 
have the name In my pocket, but I do not wish to 
give it to you on Friday.' He responded : * Give it 

' Cf. Segraisiana. 



28o Louis XIV. and 

to me ! I promise that I will put it under my 
pillow and that I will not open the paper until mid- 
night has passed.' " She did not trust him, and it 
did not occur to him to sacrifice a race that had 
been arranged for the Saturday. " Ah, well, I will 
wait until Sunday," said Mademoiselle with incon- 
ceivable patience, and her only vengeance was to 
let herself be implored a little, before giving up the 
paper. The couple were alone in a corner of the 
fireplace, in the salon of the Queen. " I drew forth 
the leaf, upon which only a single word was written, 
which, however, told much ; I showed it to him, and 
then replaced it in my pocket, afterward in my muff. 
He urged me very strongly to give it to him, saying 
that his heart was beating rapidly. . . . Be- 
fore yielding I said, * You will reply on the same 
leaf.' " . . . In the evening she did not dare to 
raise her eyes ; he declared that she was mocking 
him, that "he was not sufficiently foolish to be de- 
ceived," and this was the theme of the letter which 
he remitted to her. At the same time, he thought 
of the prodigious elevation which he was beginning 
to realise was a possibility before him. He was at 
last aroused, and could not always refrain from re- 
sponding seriously to Mademoiselle. She spoke of 
the happiness which awaited them, and of her plans 
to make him the Qrreatest lord in the kino^dom. He 
counselled her always to bow before fate, but one 
day he added : " In marrying, the temperament of 
those throwing^ their fates together should be 
known. I will disclose mine." He said that he pos- 



La Grande Mademoiselle 281 

sessed a nature bizarre and unsociable, being able to 
live only in the wake of the King; "thus I shall 
be a peculiar and not very diverting husband." 
Later, he amplified a little, affirming that he was 
cured of desire for women, and had no more am- 
bition. " When a post was proposed to me I re- 
fused it. After all, do you really want me ? " — " Yes ; 
I wish you." — " Do you find nothing in my person 
which is disgusting ? " This question was reasonable 
enough. Lauzun was decidedly " unclean" ^ — but it 
roused the indignation of Mademoiselle : " When 
you say that you are afraid of not pleasing, you are 
simply mocking ; you have pleased too easily in your 
life ; but now about me, do you find anything un- 
pleasant in my face ? I believe that my only exterior 
fault is my teeth, which are not fine. That is a de- 
fect of my race, which fact bears its own compensa- 
tions." "Assuredly" replied he, and she could not 
extract the expected compliment. 

In the course of these events, the Court returned 
to the Louvre and the Tuileries, Mademoiselle to 
the Luxembourg^. After much hesitation Lauzun 
consented that Mademoiselle should write a letter 
in which she should supplicate the King to forget 
all that he had said against mixed marriages, and 
permit her to be happy. The contemporaneous 
opinion was that Lauzun had made the first move. 
The Spanish Chargd d' Affaires wrote from Paris, 
December 21 : " It is certain, as every one says, that 
he has arrived at this point with the authorisation and 

' Mdmoires de V Abbe de Choisy. 



282 Louis XIV. and 

permission of the King." ^ The pubHc voice, whose 
echo has been preserved for us by the novehsts of 
the period, added that Mme. de Montespan had 
been mixed up in the affair, a version which two of 
her letters to Lauzun confirm,^ and that she had 
obtained the consent of the King by saying : " Ah, 
Sire, let him alone. He has merit enough for 
this."^ 

There was evidently some secret bond between 
the mistress and Lauzun which united them when 
any mischief was at hand. The King had responded 
to Mademoiselle without actually saying yes, or no ; 
he confessed that her letter had astonished him and 
asked her to reflect again. He repeated the advice 
three days later, during a tite-a-tite which took 
place behind closed doors at two o'clock in the 
morning. " I neither counsel you nor forbid you ; 
but I pray you to consider well." He added that 
the affair was being discussed and that many people 
disliked M. de Lauzun. " Think over this fact and 
take your own measures." 

The couple profited by the warning. On Mon- 
day, December 15, 1670, in the afternoon, the Dues 
de Montausier and de Cregny, the Marechal d'Al- 
bret and the Marquis de Guitry presented them- 
selves before Louis XIV., and demanded the hand 
of the Grande Mademoiselle for M. de Lauzun, " as 

' Don Miguel de Iturrieta to Don Diego de la Torre. Archives de la Bas- 
tille. 

"^ Mme. de Moniespan et Louis XIV., by P. Clement. 

^ Histoire etc. (Bibl. Sainte-Genevieve, MS. 3208). The same version is 
found with slight variations in Le Perroqttet, etc. 




MADAME DE SEVIQNE 

From the painting by Pietro Mignard in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence 

(Photograph by Alinari) 



La Grande Mademoiselle 283 

deputies from the French nobility, who would con- 
sider it a great honour and grace if the King would 
permit a simple gentleman to marry a Princess of 
the blood." ^ This proceeding was a plan of Lau- 
zun's. It succeeded with the King, and after he had 
been thanked in the name of the entire nobility of 
the kingdom, Mademoiselle, who was apparently 
listening to the reading of a sermon, behind the 
chair of the Queen, was notified that M. de Mon- 
tausier was asking for her. The Duke reported the 
good reception which they had received and ended 
in these terms : " Your affair is accomplished, but I 
counsel you not to let things lag ; if you follow my 
advice, you will marry this very night." 

" I was convinced that he was right " adds Ma- 
demoiselle, " and I prayed him to give the same 
advice to M. de Lauzun if he should see him 
before I did." 

There is no clearer fact in history than the evi- 
dence of the consternation into which France was 
thrown by the news that the Duchesse de Mont- 
pensier, granddaughter of Henri IV., was to marry 
the Comte de Lauzun, "a simple (qualified) gentle- 
man." To-day, an alliance of this kind, provided it 
does not concern the heir to the throne, is only a 
piece of society gossip, even in lands still pro- 
foundly loyal to monarchical sentiments. In the 
seventeenth century such an event touched so 
nearly the social hierarchy upon which all rested 
that Mademoiselle, in thus confusing social ranks, 

' M/moires de la Fare. 



284 Louis XIV. and 

appeared to have failed seriously in her duty as 
Princess. 

Louis, as King, had not considered it his duty 
to oppose. The criticism was more severe inas- 
much as custom, encouraged by illustrious exam- 
ples, offered to lovers separated by birth easy 
means for completing their private happiness, sus- 
taining at the same time public decorum. " Mar- 
riages of conscience " had been invented for such 
cases ; why not be content with this means of doing 
your duty and of satisfying at the same time con- 
science and passion ? Paris sought a reply to this 
question, and the whole city was whispering and 
busying itself in a manner not easily to be forgotten. 

Ten years later, when the trials of the "Cor- 
rupters " disturbed the community, some one wrote 
to Mme. de Sevigne that " the last two days have 
been as asfitated as durinsf the time when the news 
of the projected marriage between the Grande 
Mademoiselle and M. de Lauzun was announced. 
All were seeking news and, eager with curiosity, 
were running from one house to another to gather 
details." ^ 

The princes and princesses of the blood consid- 
ered themselves insulted, and rebelled, a boldness 
so unexpected, on account of their habitual sub- 
mission, that even Louis XIV. was somewhat 
moved. The timid Marie-Therese gave the ex- 
ample. Mademoiselle came to announce formally 
the proposed marriage. " I entirely disapprove," 

' Letter dated January 26, 1680. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 285 

said the Queen in a very sharp tone, " and the 
King will never sanction it." " He does approve 
it, Madame, that is settled." " You would do 
better never to marry, to keep your wealth for my 
son Anjou." ^ Anger gave the Queen courage to 
address the King, who was vexed, and the result 
was a scene, tears, a night of despair ; but also 
nothing gained, and finally the Queen was forced 
into a public declaration that she would sign the 
contract. 

Monsieur loudly protested. He heaped abuses 
on the " deputies of French nobility," reproached 
Mademoiselle in the presence of the King for being 
"without heart," and said that she was a person 
who should be " placed in an insane asylum," ^ and 
also declared that he would not sign the contract. 
The gravest accusation made by Monsieur was a 
statement, repeated to all, that Mademoiselle had 
said that the Kine had himself counselled the mar- 
riage. In vain Mademoiselle asserted that she 
had said nothing of the kind ; the charge made a 
great impression upon Louis, and he expressed his 
first regret over the affair. The Prince de Conde, 
sometimes taunted with having become, somewhat 
late in life, an accomplished courtier, remonstrated 
respectfully but firmly with the King. 

The old Madame, forgotten in her corner of the 
Luxembourg, never really felt the wave of disgust 

^ Second son of Louis XIV. He died young. 

2 Cf. for this chapter, the Melanges of Philibert Delamare (Bibl. Nation- 
ale, French MS. 23,251), the Journal of d'Ormesson, and generally the 
memoirs, correspondences, pamphlets, and songs of the period. 



286 Louis XIV. and 

and protest, but she was sufficiently aroused from 
her apathy to sign a letter to the King, written in 
her name by M. Le Pelletier, President of the De- 
partment of Inquests. Outside the Court circle, 
Louis XIV. felt himself blamed by all classes of 
society. The nobles in general refused to ratify 
the " Mandate " that the deputies had given in their 
name. Without doubt, the honour of this marriage 
would be great : the permission given to a princess 
of the blood to marry so far beneath her rank, a 
most unexpected favour from a monarch who had 
worked so systematically to undermine the power 
of the aristocracy ; but the larger portion of the 
French nobility was so much impressed with the dan- 
ger of insulting royalty, and weakening the senti- 
ment of the sanctity of the Heaven-sent rulers, that 
it joined in the criticism of the rest of the nation. 

The Parliamentary world and the society of the 
higher middle class were equally outraged. It was 
plain that the marriage could be made only with 
the King's consent, and the giving of this was con- 
sidered a "shame." The bourgeoisie showed an 
inconceivable irritation ; Segrais heard Guilloire, 
Intendant of Mademoiselle, say to his mistress in 
an excited tone, knowing very well that he was 
risking his position, " You are derided and hated 
by all Europe." As to the common people, their 
attitude was touching. " They were," reports a 
witness,^ "in a state of consternation." They 
grieved as if their Prince had deceived them. 

^ Philibert Delamare, he. cit. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 287 

The enemies of Lauzun increased the discontent 
and endeavoured to g^ain time. Louvois was cred- 
ited with having persuaded the Archbishop of Paris 
to forbid the bans. The minister felt himself di- 
rectly menaced, and this was also the opinion of 
the political world, in which many believed that the 
projected marriage was a stroke directed " against 
M. de Louvois, an avowed enemy of M. de Lauzun,"^ 
by Colbert and Mme. de Montespan. 

While the tempest was gathering, the friends of 
the two lovers pressed them to hasten the end. 
" In the name of God," said Rochefort, Captain of 
the Guards, ** Marry to-day rather than to-mor- 
row!" Montausier "scolded" them for dallying. 
Mme. de Sevigne represented to Mademoiselle that 
they "were tempting God and the King."^ 

Nothing can be done for people who are walk- 
ing in the clouds. Lauzun, " intoxicated with 
vanity,"^ believed himself already safe in port, shel- 
tered from all trouble, with the King and Mme. de 
Montespan on his side. Mademoiselle, "dazzled 
by love," permitted herself to be guided. Her first 
desire had been to marry upon the evening of the 
deputation to the King, without saying anything 
about It, but Lauzun refused. " He was persuaded 
that Mme. de Montespan would not fail him, and 
that nothing could now turn the King against 
him, and considered everything secure, saying, " I 

' yournal oi Olivier d'Ormesson. 

^ Letter to Coulanges, December 31st. The letter announcing the mar- 
riage, too well known to quote, is dated the 15th. 
* Memoir es de la Fare. 



288 Louis XIV. and 

distrust only you." To marry thus clandestinely 
would not satisfy his vanity. He wished that the 
deed should be done as " from crown to crown, 
openly and with all forms observed." He desired 
the chapel of the Tuileries, pomp, a crowd, rows of 
astonished and envious faces, " rich livery " that he 
had hastened to order for the occasion. In short, 
he longed for the moon and he did not succeed in 
seizing^ it. 

Tuesday, December i6th, was passed in talking, 
in expressing astonishment, in paying compliments. 
A multitude came to the Luxembourg, among whom 
the Archbishop of Reims, brother of Louvois, who 
said to Mademoiselle : " Would you do me the in- 
jury of choosing any other than myself to perform 
the marriage ceremony ? " Another had already 
solicited the honour, a proof that so far a rupture 
had not been thought of. Mademoiselle replied : 
" M. the Archbishop of Paris has said that he 
desired the office." 

Wednesday, there was a fresh crowd, Louvois in 
person and all the ministers ; but there was no 
longer the same cordiality, and Mademoiselle her- 
self perceived the difference. " They made low 
bows, they conversed, but no longer about the 
affair." The evening of the same day, the Princess 
gave to Lauzun (" awaiting something better," said 
Mme. de Sevigne), the Comte of Eu, which repre- 
sented the first peerage of France, assuring the first 
rank, the Principality of Dombes and the Duchy 
of Montpensier, of which last Lauzun assumed 



La Grande Mademoiselle 289 

the title and name. It was agreed that the cere- 
mony should take place the next day at noon. 
On Thursday, the i8th, the contract was not yet 
prepared ; the lawyers had delayed on purpose. 
Towards evening, Lauzun, who was losing his 
assurance, offered to break with Mademoiselle. 

She was offended and tried once more to make 
him declare his love, but he responded, " I will 
say I love you only when we issue from church." 
There was no longer question of the Tuileries 
chapel, nor even of dazzHng the Parisians, and 
Friday found a new delay. Mademoiselle having 
herself wavered. 

After consideration, a rendezvous was arranged 
at Charenton, in the house of a friend, where the 
wedding was to be secretly solemnised the next 
-evening at midnight, without even an archbishop. 
The Parisian offer began to inspire distrust : " The 
cure of the place would do well enough." 

When all was settled. Mademoiselle amused her- 
self with showing to her intimates the chamber that 
she had arranged for the future Due de Montpen- 
sier. " It was magnificently furnished," relates the 
Abbe de Choisy. " ' Do not you think,' said 
Mademoiselle to us, ' that a Gascony cadet will be 
sufficiently well lodged ? ' " Lauzun took leave 
early to pass the night in a " bath house," as was 
the custom before a wedding. Mademoiselle op- 
posed this, because he was suffering from a bad 
cold. He had also " trouble with his eyes." I said 
to him, " Your eyes are very red." He replied, " Do 



290 Louis XIV. and 

they make you ill ?" I said, " No ; for they are in 
no way disgusting." It may be noticed that these 
illustrious lovers did not possess the light graces of 
conversation ; their phrases were singularly heavy. 
" These ladies are mocking us," pursued the Prin- 
cess. " I do not know, however, what caused 
me to have a presentiment. I began to weep in 
seeing him depart ; he, too, was sad ; we were 
ridiculed. The ladies also departed, only Mme. de 
Nogent remaining." 

This last was the sister of Lauzun, and Mademoi- 
selle had, during the past months, been very inti- 
mate with her. 

While time was thus being wasted at the Luxem- 
bourg, Louis submitted to the almost universal an- 
tagonism and withdrew his authorisation to the 
alliance. " The Queen and the princes of the 
blood redoubled their entreaties ; the Marechal de 
Villeroy^ threw himself upon his knees, with tears 
in his eyes ; the ministers and all those approaching 
the King expressed the voice of the people. At 
length God touched the King's heart." ^ God ? No, 
but a creature of flesh ; Mme. de Montespan for the 
second time betrayed Lauzun. 

La Fare affirms the statement that it was the 
counsel of Mme. de Maintenon (still only Mme. 
Scarron) painfully earning her bread in bringing 
up in obscurity the children of Mme. de Montespan 

' Ancient Governor of the King, who had kept a strong affection for his 
pupil. 

* Pliilibert Delamare, loc. cit. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 291 

and the King. Mme. Scarron had cleverness and 
prudence, and at that time was far from any thought 
of rivalry ; the King could not suffer her. She said 
later that he had taken her for a " learned woman," 
only caring for "sublime things"^; and Louis dis- 
trusted Philimantes. It was, therefore, as a disin- 
terested friend that she " pointed out to Mme. de 
Montespan the tempest which she would draw down 
upon her head in sustaining Lauzun in this affair ; 
that the royal family and the King himself would 
reproach her for the steps she had urged. Mme. 
Scarron succeeded so well that the one who urged 
the marriage was responsible for preventing it." ^ 

Louis XIV. yielded to the urgency of Mme. de 
Montespan and sent to the Luxembourg for Ma- 
demoiselle. It was eight o'clock in the evening. 
Mademoiselle uttered a cry on hearing that the 
King commanded her presence. " I am in despair; 
my marriage is broken." On reaching the Tuiler- 
ies, the Princess was led to the King by the back 
staircase, and quickly perceived that something 
was being concealed from her. In fact, Louis had 
hidden Conde behind a door, that he might listen 
and be witness to what passed. 

The door was closed behind me. I found the King alone, 
moved and sad. " I am in despair at the thought of what I 
must tell you. I am told that the world is saying that I am 

' Mme. de Maintenon, Lettres historiques et ddifiantes ; cf. Mimoire de 
Mile, d' Aumale, published by M. le Comte d' Haussonville. 

^ The Abbe de Choisy relates the same scene, but attributes it to the 
Princesse de Carignan (Marie de Bourbon-Soissons, 1666-1692). 



292 Louis XIV. and 

sacrificing you to make Lauzun's fortune; that this would in- 
jure me in foreign lands, and that I must not permit the affair 
to be consummated. You are right in complaining of me; 
beat me if you wish. I will bear the weight of any expression 
of anger in which you may indulge, and feel that I merit your 
indignation." " Ah !" cried I, " Sire, what do you tell me? 
What cruelty ! " 

She mingled protestations with reproaches, sobbed 
out her despair on her knees, and pleaded to know 
the fate of Lauzun. " Where Is he. Sire, M. de 
Lauzun ? " " Do not be troubled ! No harm shall 
come to him." 

True sorrow Is always eloquent, and Louis XIV. 
let his own emotion be visible without shame : 

He threw himself on his knees and embraced me. We wept 
together three quarters of an hour, his cheek pressed against 
mine, he weeping bitterly as I did: " Ah! why have you 
wasted time in reflection ? why did you not hasten ? " — " Alas, 
Sire! who could have distrusted your Majesty's word? You 
have never failed any one before, and you now begin with me 
and M. de Lauzun! I shall die, and be happy in dying. I 
had never loved any one before in all my life; I now love, 
and love passionately and in good faith, the most worthy man 
in your kingdom; my only joy and pleasure will be in his 
elevation. I hoped to pass the remainder of my days agreea- 
bly with him, and in honouring and loving you as warmly as 
my husband. You gave him to me; you now take him away; 
it is tearing out my heart." 

Some one coughed behind the door. " To whom 
are you betraying me. Sire ? Can It be M. le 
Prince ? " Mademoiselle grew bitter, and the King 
wished to end the scene ; but she continued to sup- 
plicate him: "What, Sire, will you not yield to 



La Grande Mademoiselle 293 

my tears ? " He replied, raising his voice so that he 
might be heard, " Kings must satisfy the public " ; 
and added, an instant after, " It is late ; I can say 
no more nor differently, even if you remained 
longer." " He embraced me and conducted me to 
the door." 

Such is the recital of Mademoiselle. Another 
account of the interview exists, dictated the same 
evening by Louis to his Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
as the following letter, written the next morn- 
ing, testifies. Before the King had risen, M. de 
Lyonne wrote in haste to M. de Pomponne, the 
French Ambassador to Holland : 

I am overwhelmed with business, and have no time for 
details, but I do not doubt that every letter from Paris has 
brought news of the projected marriage of the Grande Ma- 
demoiselle with Comte de Lauzun. I must now warn you 
that the King broke this off yesterday at eleven o'clock in the 
evening, so that few people could be aware of the fact before 
the departure of the post. I have already outlined a circular 
letter from his Majesty, to be sent to all the Foreign Ministers, 
to inform them of what has passed in regard to this affair 
during the past seven or eight days; but as the King does not 
wake before nine o'clock, and as the courier will by that time 
have departed, his Majesty will not be able to sign in time for 
the letters to be forwarded to-day, and you must be contented 
with the simple news, that the affair is ended. I pray you to 
send a copy of this note to M. le Chevalier de Terlon and 
to the Sieur Rousseau,* and to advise them that I have re- 
quested you so to do. 

Before referring to the circular letter of His 

' The French Charge d' Affaires in Sweden and Germany, Archives de la 
Bastille. 



294 Louis XIV. and 

Majesty upon the subject which caused the cries 
and tears of his poor cousin, it should be noted 
that it seemed perfectly natural, to judge by the 
documents of the times, to advise officially foreign 
powers of events with which they were actually but 
little concerned. In the opinion of the seventeenth 
century, the man was inseparable from the sov- 
ereign, and France was deeply impressed with the 
universal importance of Louis XIV. and by con- 
sequence of the obligations devolving upon him. 
" He must account to all Europe for his actions," 
says, in regard to the "Affair Lauzun," the "relation" 
already quoted.-^ 

It Is also well to recollect. In order to understand 
the text of the letter, that one of the half-sisters of 
Mademoiselle had married the Due de Guise, 
cadet of the House of Lorraine ; an alliance hardly 
less unequal In the eyes of the French aristocracy 
than that of Lauzun with the Princess. This mar- 
riage had excited but little attention, there being a 
wide difference between the Importanceof the sisters. 
Referring to this event, the " Deputies of the no- 
bility of France " had not failed to assert that the 
nobles of France and the officers of the Crown 
were quite equal to foreign princes, and in par- 
ticular to the " Lorraines " in spite of their preten- 
sions. With this explanation, the text of the long 
despatch addressed to the ambassadors is given. 
It begins In these terms : 

As what has taken place during the past five or six days in 
' Philibert Delamare, loc. cit. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 295 

regard to a plan formed by my cousin for marrying the Comte 
de Lauzun, one of the Captains of the Body Guard, will prob- 
ably make a great noise everywhere, and as my conduct in 
the matter is liable to be interpreted malignantly, and to be 
blamed by those who may be incorrectly informed of the facts, 
I believe it a duty to instruct all my Foreign Ministers." 



The King then explains in detail the affair, and 
this explanation exactly accords with the recital of 
Mademoiselle, save that Louis XIV. states that he 
was opposed to the marriage from the beginning, 
and only yielded because he was weary of the dis- 
cussion, being constantly harassed by his cousin and 
the Deputies of the nobility : " She [Mademoiselle] 
continued . . . through notes and every other 
available means to press me urgently to give the 
consent she demanded of me, as this alone could, as 
she said, give the happiness and repose of her life." 
The Deputies had also represented to him 



thatafter havingconsentedtothemarriage of my cousindeGuise, 
not only without making the least difficulty but with pleasure, 
I should resist this, so ardently desired by her sister, I should 
clearly show that I made a great distinction between the ca- 
dets of royal houses and the Officers of my Crown. Such a 
distinction Spain did not make, but on the other hand, gave 
precedence to its own Grandees over any foreign Princes, and 
it was impossible that the making of this difference in France 
should not greatly mortify the entire nobility of the kingdom. 
In conclusion, the urgency of these four persons was so strong, 
and their reasons so convincing, especially that emphasising the 
danger of insulting the French nobility, that I yielded, and 
gave consent to the marriage, shrugging my shoulders at the 



296 Louis XIV. and 

folly of my cousin, and only saying that as she was forty-three, 
she might do as she pleased. 

He continued, " From this moment it was con- 
sidered that the affair was concluded." Then follow 
the details already known, preparations for the cere- 
mony, the crowd at the Luxembourg ; rumours 
" very injurious " that the King was responsible for 
the marriage, wishing to favour Lauzun ; and finally, 
the resolve to break off the affair. 

This is the single point on which Louis XIV. be- 
lieved it to be his duty to restrict his confidences 
to the universe. He passes over in silence the sup- 
plications of Mme de Montespan and the fact of 
Conde beinof hidden behind the door: 



& 



I sent for my cousin. I declared to her, that I would not suf- 
fer her to cross the frontier for marriage, and that I could not 
consent that she should marry any Prince who was my sub- 
ject, ' but that she might choose among the (qualified) nobles 
of France, with the exception of Lauzun, and that I myself 
would conduct her to church. 

It is superfluous to tell you with what grief she 
received this announcement, how she wept and 
sobbed. She threw herself upon her knees. " I 
had pierced her heart with a hundred dagger strokes ; 
she wished to die"; I remained firm. 

The Kinof added that he made the same communi- 
cation to Lauzun, " and I may say that he received it 
with all the self-control, submission, and resignation 

' This exclusion probably refers to the Prince de Conde, with whom an 
alliance would have been considered a danger to the peace of France. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 297 

which I could desire."^ It is with the unfavour- 
able comparison to Mademoiselle that this curious 
document terminates. Louis displayed but little 
generosity before a grief so deep. 

The Princess regained her chamber in a pitiable 
state. She went into hysterics and broke the 
windows of the carriage. At the Luxembourg, 
the salon was filled with a curious crowd awaiting 
her return. " Two of her footmen entered into 
the room, saying in loud voices, ' Depart at once, 
by degrees.' Every one scattered immediately ; 
but I remained the last, and saw Mademoiselle 
advance from the hall of the Guards like a dishev- 
elled fury, menacing heaven and earth with ex- 
tended arms." She had barely time to regain a 
slight degree of calm, when Lauzun entered, ac- 
companied by Messieurs de Montausler, Crequi, 
and Guitry. " On seeing him, I uttered loud cries, 
and he could hardly restrain himself from weeping." 
The nobles of France came at the command of the 
King to thank the granddaughter of Henri IV. for 
the honour that she wished to confer upon them. 
M. de Montausler bore the address. 

Mademoiselle sobbed. M. de Lauzun had, with 
full understanding, taken the expected attitude, of a 
man who blesses the most cruel blows coming from 
the hand of his King. " M. de Lauzun," wrote Mme 
de Sevlgne, " has played his role to perfection ; 

' La Correspondance de Poniponne (Bibl. de 1' Arsenal, 4712, 1598, 11. F.), 
fol. 373. M. Cheruel in the appendix to volume iv. of the Memoires de 
Madevioiselle, and M, Livet in VHistoire a?noureuse des Gaules, have pub- 
lished this letter after an inexact copy. 



298 Louis XIV. and 

he has sustained his misfortune with firmness and 
courage, and has nevertheless displayed a grief, min- 
gled with profound respect, which has won the ad- 
miration of all." ^ 

The Princess would have been contented with 
something less admirable. She said to him : " ' You 
show such strength of mind, that all will believe 
you to be indifferent to me. What do you say ? ' 
and I sobbed with each word." He responded 
very coolly : " If you take my counsel, you will go 
to-morrow to dine at the Tuileries, and will thank 
the King for the honour that he has done you, 
in having prevented an action of which you would 
have repented all your life." She led her lover 
aside and had the pleasure of seeing him weep. 
" He could not speak, nor could I. I could only 
say : ' What ! I am never to see you more ? I shall 
certainly die.' Then we turned around. 
These gentlemen departed ; I went to bed ; I re- 
mained twenty-four hours almost without con- 
sciousness." She forbade any one to be admitted. 
Her door was, however, opened on Friday morning 
for Mme. de Sevigne. Just twenty-four hours had 
elapsed since Mademoiselle had overflowed with 
joy before her friend and despised any warnings. 
" I found her in bed^ ; she redoubled her cries on 
seeing me ; called me, embraced me, and deluged 
me with her tears. She said : * Alas ! do you re- 
member what you said yesterday ? Ah ! what cruel 

' Letter dated December 24, 1670. 
* Letter dated December 31, . 



La Grande Mademoiselle 299 

prudence ! ' I wept through sympathy with her 
woe." A little later the King was announced. 
" When he entered," reports Mademoiselle, " I be- 
gan to cry with all my strength ; he embraced me and 
placed his cheek against mine. I said, * Your Ma- 
jesty acts like monkeys who stifle their children 
embracing them.' " As he was promising all kinds 
of wonderful things to console her, among others 
" that he would do fine things for M. de Lauzun," 
she had the presence of mind, in spite of her an- 
guish, to demand if she might not see her friend 
again. The reply of the King should be remembered, 
as it brought serious results for his cousin. He 
said : " I do not forbid you to see him ; . . . 
and assuredly you cannot take advice of a worthier 
man in regard to any of your affairs than Lauzun." 
She hastened to confirm the permission. " It is 
my intention. Sire, and I am very happy that 
you desire that he should continue to be my 
best friend ; but at least, Sire, you will not change 
as you did before ? I cannot help reproaching 
you." 

The succeeding days she was obliged to reopen 
her doors, and the same crowd which had feigned to 
rejoice with her now pretended to pity her. It 
was necessary to see again the same faces, to sub- 
mit to curious looks, glances filled with raillery, 
and to reply to banal remarks. There was much 
joking in Paris at her having received condolences 
in bed, after the fashion of widows. " I have heard 
in the salon of Mme. de Maintenon," relates Mme. 



300 Louis XIV. and 

de Caylus/ " that she cried out in her despair, ' He 
should be there beside me ! ' " 

A grand Princess, to be dying of love and for a 
simple cadet from Gascogne, almost a country fel- 
low ; this was a novel spectacle, which so shocked 
all ideas of decorum that the public could not take 
to heart very seriously this slightly theatrical grief. 
It was pretended that Louis had said, " This is 
only a fantasy born in three days and which will 
pass as rapidly." True or false, the King wished 
to believe this, and the phrase received general ap- 
probation. It relieved the fashionable world from 
the duty of sympathising with the unfortunate, who 
was eating out her own heart, and visibly fading 
away. 

" I grew thin, with hollow cheeks, as a person 
who neither eats nor sleeps, and I wept the min- 
ute that I was alone, or when I met any friends of 
M. de Lauzun and they talked of events which had 
any connection with him. I always desired to speak 
of him." The hope of a speedy death was her 
sole consolation, for no one, she was convinced 
had so deeply suffered. " My state was pitiable, 
and it must have been experienced to be appre- 
ciated, for such feelings cannot be expressed. It is 
necessary to know one's self, in order to judge, and 
no one can have felt a grief equal to mine ; there 
is nothing which can compare with it." This is the 
universal language of disappointed lovers ; but the 
expressive phrase below is not at the disposal of all 

' Souvenirs et Correspondance. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 301 

souls. It is only applicable to moments in which 
the excess of grief renders it almost unconscious : 
** On account of feeling too much, I felt nothing." 

The fifth day, etiquette exacted that she should 
find herself consoled. Her duties as Princess were 
recalled to her. " It was needful to go to Court, 
it was not well to pass eight days without seeing 
the King." 

In vain she fought against such cruel exactions; 
she was forced to make a spectacle of herself, still 
with " discomposed face, red and swollen eyes, with 
constant floods of tears, at proper or improper mo- 
ments, with sharp cries at sight of Lauzun." 

Lauzun opened his eyes wide upon her as upon 
a naughty child, and severely menaced her : " If you 
act in this manner, I will never be found again in 
the same room with you ! " But she could not com- 
pose herself. One evening, at a great Court ball, 
she stopped in the middle of a dance and began to 
weep. The King rose and placed his hat before 
her face, leading her out of the room and explain- 
ing, " My cousin has vapours." The public did 
not pity her. It would have liked to celebrate her 
defeat. " All have praised the King for this ac- 
tion," wrote Olivier d'Ormesson. 

Louis XIV. was again popular, a transient pop- 
ularity which lasted only a few days. " It may be 
said that not only the Court, but the entire king- 
dom has rejoiced in the rupture of the proposed 
marriage." ^ The sentiment of approval was unani- 

* Philibert Delamare, loc. cit. 



302 Louis XIV. and 

mous. As to the Princess, who was guilty of asserting 
the right to "personal happiness," opinion judged 
her severely. The seventeenth century did not ad- 
mit, as has been seen, that individual sentiments 
or the interests of the heart could predominate 
over the exactions of rank or society, and the age 
of the lovers and disparity of their appearance, she 
so tall, he almost a dwarf, aroused ridicule instead 
of sympathy. The Grande Mademoiselle was sud- 
denly rewarded " with contempt," " for," says La 
Fare, " if this contemplated alliance appeared ex- 
traordinary as soon as the news was made public, it 
became ridiculous as soon as it was broken." 

It is agreeable to meet among these people, who 
were right in the main, but who were malicious and 
uncharitable, one good Samaritan. 

While Mme. de Sevigne wrote gaily, "All is 
finished,"^ the tears of Mademoiselle inspired kind 
and courageous words from a person comparatively 
obscure, and who excused herself from correspond- 
ing because she did not have enough "wit." A 
letter, dated January 21, 1671, addressed to Bussy- 
Rabutin by Mme. de Scudery, sister-in-law of the 
illustrious Madeleine, contains this paragraph : 

I will say nothing of the affair of Mademoiselle. You are 
no doubt acquainted with all that has passed. I will only 
add that, if you realise what a great passion can be, in the 
heart of a pure woman like the Princess, you will not wonder, 
but will have sympathy. For myself, who know nothing of 
love through experience, I comprehend that Mademoiselle is 

^ Letter dated December 24, 1670. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 303 

much to be pitied; for she has become sleepless. During the 
day she is agitated and weeps, and in fact is leading the most 
miserable existence possible.* 

Bussy-Rabutin replied (A Chaseu, January 29, 
1671): 

I comprehend what passion means in a woman of the age 
and temperament of Mademoiselle, who has preserved her 
heart hitherto untouched, and I confess that this tale arouses 
my pity. Love seems to me a malady like the small-pox; 
the later it attacks the victim, 'the more severe the illness. 

The writer had indeed well understood the char- 
acteristics of late love on only its displeasing side. 
But his attitude was, unfortunately, the one adopted 
by almost every one. 

Regarded half-pityingly, but with an undercur- 
rent of ridicule, the Grande Mademoiselle ceased 
to be interesting to the fickle French public. The 
fall from favour was very definite. The heroine 
of the Fronde was effaced in the eyes of contem- 
poraries, and remained only a ridiculous old maid, 
whose woes amused the gallery. 

* Correspondance de Bussy-Rabutin, published by Ludovic Lalanne. 



CHAPTER VI 

Was Mademoiselle secretly Married ? — Imprisonment of Lauzun — Splendour 
and Decadence of France — La Chambre Ardente — Mademoiselle pur- 
chases Lauzun's Freedom — Their Embroilment — Death of the Grande 
Mademoiselle — Death of Lauzun — Conclusion. 

MANY of the events remaining to be recorded 
are very obscure. If they had any impor- 
tance, they would have figured in the collections of 
historic enigmas and problems waiting to be solved ; 
but they hardly merit the honour, as few of them 
have had any such influence over the destinies of 
France as had, for instance, the fact of the sub- 
jection of Anne of Austria to Mazarin. Nor do 
any possess the romantic attraction which attached 
to the legend of the "Man with the Iron Mask" 
before its explanation. Petty details, however, bring 
the French society of this period near to us, and 
the fact that events cannot always be interpreted 
makes them seem more like real life. It is only in 
romances that all is explained. 

The most obscure of these smaller problems is 
the question of the marriage of Mademoiselle with 
the " little man," as she herself called him. 

Contemporary opinion has been almost unani- 
mous in its belief in this marriage. Neither date nor 
place nor names of the possible witnesses have ever 

304 



Louis XIV. and La Grande Mademoiselle 305 

been satisfactorily established, as was done in the 
case of the union of Louis XIV. and Mme. de 
Maintenon. There is no written proof of the fact ; 
Mademoiselle had the habit of burning her letters, 
and made no exception in favour of those from 
Lauzun. She states this fact with regret, in her 
Mdmoires. We are thus reduced to moral proofs. 
It is true that these are strong in favour of the 
event having taken place ; but they are not alto- 
gether unanswerable. 

The belief that a secret bond had remained, after 
the official rupture, rested in the mind of most 
people interested. One of the correspondents ^ of 
Bussy-Rabutin wrote to him, February 17, 1671 : 
" Mademoiselle sometimes still weeps when she re- 
flects, but often she laughs and is at her ease. Her 
lover continues to see her and no one opposes it. 
I do not know what will happen." Three weeks 
later, Mme. de Scudery made allusion to the same 
rumour (Paris, March 6, 1671) : " Mademoiselle is 
always conversing with M. de Lauzun. Their con- 
versations begin and end with tears. I assure you, 
however, that there will be no result." Bussy was 
among those who believed that it " would come to 
something." He replied on the 13th to Mme. de 
Scudery: "I am convinced that the affair of Ma- 
demoiselle and Lauzun will have a happy issue, not 
in the manner they at first hoped, but in a more 
secret method to which the King will consent." 

^ M. du Honsett, Ancient Intendant of Finance. He had just purchased 
the office of Chancellor of Monsieur. 



3o6 Louis XIV. and 

Would Mademoiselle accept this other way ? 
Doubt is permissible. Marriages of conscience, if 
fashionable in the seventeenth century, created 
false situations, sometimes very humiliating ones, 
to a person not an absolute sovereign account- 
able to no one, and in a position to let the truth 
come out or not as it pleased him. For the rest of 
mortals, secret marriages must actually remain 
concealed, or there would result endless difficulties. 
On this account, the married pair could only meet 
through a happy chance, which is not agreeable, 
while it was also almost impossible to escape sus- 
picious commentaries and the uncomfortable de- 
pendence upon the fidelity of servants. Segrais 
would never believe that Mademoiselle had mar- 
ried Lauzun, and one of the reasons given was 
"that she sent away Madelon, her chambermaid, 
and she would not have done this if Madelon had 
been able to gossip." Segrais might have added 
that his mistress had always severely criticised the 
equivocations arising from marriages of conscience. 

But all was changed after the serious conversa- 
tion between the Kinof and Mademoiselle behind 
the closed doors. Mademoiselle encouraged Lau- 
zun to assume airs of authority, and she was meekly 
submissive. "He regarded me with such a look 
that I no longer dared to weep, the power that he 
had over me retaining my tears. It is much wiser 
not to lose self-control ! " 

It was by his advice that she cleared her palace of 
all who had blamed their first plan. M. de Mon- 



La Grande Mademoiselle 307 

tausier and Mme. de Sevigne tried in vain to save 
Segrais, who " was their special friend." " She can- 
not be touched," wrote Mme. de Sevigne, " upon a 
subject which approaches to within nine hundred 
leagues of a certain cape." -^ It was Lauzun who 
designated the successor of Guillore, her Intendant, 
and who submitted the choice to the King. This 
might give rise to remark. Lauzun warned Ma- 
demoiselle of this danger. " It may be said in the 
world that I wish to rule you completely." She 
responded : " Please God that you should ; that is 
what I profoundly desire." Mademoiselle had con- 
firmed through new acts the lavish gifts assured by 
the contract, and the King rivalled his cousin in 
generosity. If the courtiers can be believed, Louis 
had promised Lauzun that he should lose nothing 
by not marrying Mademoiselle. In any case, he 
heaped favours upon him. The first gift was the 
government of Berri, with fifty thousand francs to 
pay his debts and the hope that Fortune would con- 
tinue her benedictions. Louvois grew anxious and 
amassed shiploads of hatred against the favourite. 
The winter passed in this manner. In the spring, 
the Court returned to Flanders. During a sojourn 
at Dunkerque so much was said of the intimacy of 
the "dwarf" with the Grande Mademoiselle, that 
the report reached the ears of the Princess : " The 
rumour is circulating that we were married be- 
fore leaving Paris, and the Gazette de Hollande con- 
firms this. Some one brought the paper to me ; I 

• Letter dated April i, 1671. 



3o8 Louis XIV. and 

showed it to Lauzun, who laughed." Two pages 
further on, another conversation proves that the 
news was at least premature ; but the public had 
the right to be deceived, so tender and familiar was 
the intercourse between the couple. 

There was a question in this same spring of a 
trip to Fontainbleau : 

I said to M. de Lauzun, " Take care to wear a cap when you 
are in the forest; the evening dew is bad for the teeth, and 
further you are subject to weak eyes and to catching cold. 
The air of Fontainbleau makes the hair fall out." He re- 
plied: "I certainly must try to preserve my teeth. I also fear 
cold; but as for the red eyes with which you are constantly 
reproaching me, they are caused by wakefulness, with which 
I have been troubled for some time. As for my hair, I have 
too little left to take further pains about it." 

She preached neatness to him. " If you are 
slovenly, it will be said that I have bad taste. For 
my sake, you must be careful." Lauzun only 
laughed. Indeed, she scolded him through jeal- 
ousy, fearing that he was escaping from her in- 
fluence and going she did not know where, and 
perceiving this, he cajoled her. " As soon as he 
saw that I wished to scold him, he had unequalled 
methods for putting me in a good humour." All 
this folly resembled a honeymoon, and the Mimoires 
of Mademoiselle for this same year include a pas- 
sage which is almost a confession. " It is still said 
that we are married. We neither of us say any- 
thing, it being only our particular friends who 



La Grande Mademoiselle 309 

would dare to address us, and It is easy to laugh 
at them, only saying, * The King knows all.' " 

The conduct of Mademoiselle during the ten 
years following being a perpetual and striking con- 
firmation of this half-confession, the fact of the 
secret marriage would seem to be assured, and the 
date would be placed between May and Novem- 
ber, 1 67 1, if it were not for a last quotation, to be 
given at its proper date, which again throws doubt 
upon the event. 

Whatever the truth may be, it would appear that 
Mademoiselle had known how to reunite the broken 
fragments of her happiness ; but Lauzun, for a sec- 
ond time, lost everything. He had easily learned 
that he owed the rupture of the first plan to Mme. 
de Montespan, and had conceived so furious a hate 
against this false friend that he lost his head. 

After a scene worthy of fishwives, in which he had 
called her names impossible to print, he would 
proceed to declaim against her in the salons, with 
the utmost violence, and sometimes at only a few 
steps from her ears. The courtiers marvelled at 
the excessive insolence on the one side and the 
curious patience on the other, for Mme. de Monte- 
span endured these outrages without whispering a 
single protest. It was rumoured that she had 
once been his mistress, and that his power was 
derived from this fact. 

It is to this enforced penitence of the all-powerful 
favourite that Mme. Scarron alluded when at a 
supper, the account of which is given by Mme. de 



3IO Loius XIV. and 

Sevigne^ : " she dilated upon the horrible agitations 
in a country very well known, the continual rage 
of the little Lauzun, and the black chagrin or the 
sad boredom of the ladies of Saint-Germain ; and 
suggested that the most envied was perhaps not 
always exempt." Mme. Scarron had seen the 
" horrible agitations " very near, for it was she who 
had intervened against Lauzun ; it was upon 
her representations that Mme. de Montespan had 
ended by saying to the King that *' she did not 
believe that her life was safe as long as this man 
was free," ^ 

Lauzun was arrested at Saint-Germain, in his 
chamber, the evening of November 25, 1671. The 
evening previous. Mademoiselle had departed for 
Paris declarinof : " I do not know what is the mat- 
ter ; I am in such dreadful apprehension that I 
cannot remain here." She wept on the way. 
She very well knew the cause. One of her friends 
had been asked, " if M. de Lauzun had been ar- 
rested," and this query had worried her. 

Delayed by chance or by precaution, the news of 
the arrest did not reach the Luxembourg until 
twenty-four hours later. Lauzun was already on 
the road to Pignerol. Before him hastened M. de 
Nallot, a man of confidence despatched by Lou- 
vois, who certainly felt a ferocious joy in the action, 
to bear the instructions of his master to the Sieur 
de Saint-Mars, governor of the prison of Pignerol, 

' Letter dated January 13, 1672. 

* M^moires de La Fare. Cf. the Mtfmoires de Choisy, Segraisiana, etc. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 311 

and of those enclosed within its walls. Foucquet 
had been during seven years under the care of Saint- 
Mars, who had followed orders with such fidel- 
ity that Louvois did not doubt that he would be 
obeyed as blindly in any commands it might please 
him to give regarding Lauzun. The instructions 
gave orders to imprison him with one valet, and 
never to permit him to leave the fortress nor to 
have any communication with the outer world. 
Saint-Mars thus responded : 

PiGNEROL, December g, 1671. 

Monseigneur, M. de Nallot arrived here on the fifth instant, 
conveying the note of instructions you have been pleased to 
send me, . . , He will report to you my haste in pre- 
paring the apartment for M. de Lauzun ; he will tell you, 
Monseigneur, that I will lodge him in the two low vaulted 
chambers which are over those of M, Foucquet : these are the 
ones with the barred windows you yourself ^ examined. From 
the way in which I have arranged the place, I can respond 
with my life for the safety of the person of M. de Lauzun, 
and also the certainty of intercepting any news sent or 
received. 

I engage upon my honour, Monseigneur, that as long as 
this gentleman is under my care you will hear no further 
word about him, it will be as if he already lay in pace. 

The place prepared is so constructed that I can have holes 
made, through which I can spy into the apartment. I shall 
also know all that he does and says through the reports of a 
valet whom I will furnish as you have ordered ; I have found 
one with much trouble, because the clever ones do not wish 
to pass their life in prison. You order that mass shall be 
celebrated for M. de Lauzun only on fete days and Sundays 

' Louvois had visited Pignerol the preceding year. 



312 Louis XIV. and 

and I will scrupulously follow the letter of your instructions. 
. . . The Confessor of M. Foucquet will attend the new 
prisoner on Easter and at no other time, whatever may happen. 
My only desire is to carry out exactly the orders with which 
you have honoured me : I shall always endeavour to do this 
with zeal, passion, and fidelity, so I trust that you may be 
content with my small services.' 

All the officials of the citadel had written to 
Louvois after the arrival of his agent, so great an 
impression had been made. It was said that M. 
de Lauzun was a great criminal and a very danger- 
ous one to necessitate such precautions. Each 
wished to show his special zeal. Louis XIV. was 
also well informed about the prison destined for 
his old favourite. 

Louvois showed the King the plan he had 
received. The apartment consisted of two low 
vaulted rooms facing a deserted court, through 
which no one ever passed. The windows were 
darkened by iron bars and were covered with a 
sort of basket-work used in prisons, to prevent the 
occupant seeing or being seen. Noises from with- 
out, even those from the guards and the kitchen, 
did not penetrate into this remote place, the most 
" noiseless " of all the citadel, on account of the 
enormous thickness of the walls and of the vault- 
ing. "Never," said one of the letters, "will M. 

' The authorities quoted in this and the following chapter, upon the cap- 
tivity of Lauzun, are in part unpublished and drawn from the Archives of 
the Minister of War, in part borrowed from the A r chives de la Bastille^ by 
M. Ravaisson. See also a collection of historic documents of 1829 : 
Historie de la Detention des Philosophes, by J. Delort. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 313 

Foucquet know that he has a companion." The 
correspondents of Louvois unanimously insisted 
upon the necessity of preventing any risk of 
escape. A screen of iron was placed in the 
embrasure of the windows and a vissante inserted 
in the chimney to prevent M. de Lauzun and 
M. de Foucquet from communicating with each 
other. 

When this new command left Saint-Germain, 
Lauzun was already locked up at Pignerol. He ap- 
peared very sad and depressed during the journey. 
His grief was changed into fury at sight of the 
dungeon which awaited him. Saint-Mars wrote to 
Louvois (December 22, 1671) : " Monseigneur, my 
prisoner is in so profound a grief, that I can hardly 
describe it. He said to me that I had made him a 
lodging scecula s(Eculoru7nr Lauzun declared that 
he would lose his reason, and his agitation seemed 
to point to this danger. 

[December 30] I do not believe, Monseigneur, that I can 
send you any news of my prisoner's being more tranquil ; he 
is in so profound a grief that he does nothing but sigh and 
beat the ground with his feet. He asked me once if I knew 
the cause of his detention ; I replied that I never received 
any news of this sort lest I should be tempted to tell it. 

Lauzun had well divined the cause of his arrest, 
but he had not been told. All explanation had 
been refused at Saint-Germain, and the condemn- 
ing him to such a dungeon with the most rigorous 
secrecy, with no declared reason, seemed a crying 



SH Louis XIV. and 

and tyrannical act of injustice. Saint-Mars began 
to fear a tragic ending. 

[January 12, 1672] Monseigneur . . . he is overwhelmed 
with so extraordinary a grief that I fear he may lose his reason, 
or kill himself, which last he has threatened several times. . , . 
As I do not stop to listen to his ravings, he accuses me of hav- 
ing grown hard and pitiless through my long occupation as 
jailer; and repeats that he has never been judged and that his 
worst suffering is caused by the fact that he is ignorant of his 
crime. 

He had never been judged ! This was the refrain 
during ten long years ! Foucquet, his neighbour, 
had judges, independafits or not ; he had known the 
cause of his accusation, and his defence had been 
heard. Lauzun was in his vault through the good 
pleasure of the King without having had a chance 
to justify himself, and this grievance caused his 
revolt. 

When Mademoiselle was told of the arrest of 
Lauzun, she was so overcome that she was aston- 
ished "that she did not die." She remained in a 
most pitiable state until the next day. She was 
counselled not to delay an appeal to the King, and 
it was needful to form some plan. If there had 
been only herself to consider. Mademoiselle would 
have been ready to bid adieu to the world ; but 
there was Lauzun, who was, according to the cus- 
tom then leofal, to be accused when he could not 
defend himself, and there was only herself to plead 
his cause with the King. 

It was impossible to abandon her lover, and Ma- 



La Grande Mademoiselle 315 

demoiselle found strength to rise and to go to Saint- 
Germain. She only reached the King in the even- 
ing at supper. " He regarded me with a sad and 
embarrassed air, I looked at him with tears in my 
eyes, but said nothing ; I know what he said in re- 
turning after to the ladies ^ : ' My cousin has been 
very courteous, she has been silent.' He would have 
been imprudent to address me, as I was prepared 
to reply to all." 

The Court of France was at that date very 
gay and animated. Monsieur had just remarried 
(November 16), with Elisabeth Charlqtte de Ba- 
viere, Princess Palatine, famed for the originality 
of her mind and the freshness of her language. 
The King, who, without wit, had good taste, was 
charmed with his new sister-in-law, and was lavish 
with f6tes in her honour. At first. Mademoiselle 
considered it a duty to be present. She pathetic- 
ally relates the history of an abominable evening 
during which she was obliged to appear to be en- 
joying the spectacle of a ballet, while her thoughts 
were far distant, following a coach surrounded by 
musketeers : 

To think that he was absent; that it was bitterly cold and 
was snowing heavily, and that my dear one was on the open 
road on his way to prison; to picture his sufferings and his piti- 
able appearance made my heart ache. I believe that it would 
deceive those who should have been there with him to see me 
here, not realising the torture it gives me. My single consola- 
tion is that these constant sacrifices I am making for the King, 

^ Mme. de Montespan and Mile, de La Valliere were designated briefly 
"/i?j Dames. ^^ 



3i6 Louis XIV. and 

may in the end arouse his pity for M. de Lauzun and renew 
his tenderness, for I am not able to persuade myself that he no 
longer loves him. I should be only too content if my sacrifices 
can accomplish any results. This is my motive for remaining 
near the Court since Lauzun's imprisonment, and forces me 
from a sense of duty to do many things which I should have 
avoided if I had only consulted my inclinations. With a 
heart pierced with tender grief, I should have so willingly re- 
mained at home in solitude rather than to drag myself through 
the gay scenes of the Court festivities." 

After each effort, she allowed herself slight relaxa- 
tion and retired to weep in some corner, then re- 
turning to the King with red and swollen eyes. " I 
am persuaded" wrote she, apropos of a trip with 
the Court, " that my presence has recalled the 
memory of M. de Lauzun ; this is the reason why I 
wish to be always before the eyes of the King. 
. . . I cannot believe that he will not feel 
that my looks are ever supplicating him." Ma- 
demoiselle was very ingenious in her efforts to 
refer constantly to the absent one. If a grated 
window was passed she began to sigh and to 
pity those in prison. If there was a rumour that 
Lauzun was ill, she solicited by letter the soften- 
ing of the regime. Louis never responded, but he 
did not show any displeasure. The enemies of the 
disgraced one endeavoured to detach the Princess 
from her lover. They knew her weakness ; she 
was very jealous, and there might easily be occasion 
in regard to Lauzun, known as the greatest liber- 
tine of this licentious Court. At the moment of 
arrest his papers had been seized. There were 



La Grande Mademoiselle 317 

many letters ; locks of hair and other love tokens, 
carefully ticketed, and a sort of secret museum en- 
closing portraits that Louis XIV. ordered to be de- 
stroyed, — not promptly enough, however, as many 
persons enjoyed a glimpse of them, and were able 
to identify the originals. 

The "caskets" of Lauzun were the great social 
scandal of the winter, and there were people enough 
to exploit the contents to Mademoiselle. They 
gained nothing for their pains ; she had the wisdom 
not to listen. They belonged to the past. The 
same kind friends endeavoured to open her eyes to 
the fact that she had been deceived in giving her 
heart to a man who only desired her millions. They 
said : " He did not love you ; when he was promised 
wealth, appointments, he readily left you ; the day 
on which the King broke the marriage, Lauzun 
gambled all the evening with the greatest tranquil- 
ity ; he cares nothing about you." Mademoiselle 
allows in her Memoires that she began to be dis- 
turbed when she was forced to hear such statements 
from morning till night during a series of years. 
Her own remembrances only too well confirmed 
the truth. She had never received a word of ten- 
derness from Lauzun, not even a truly gracious 
word. But misfortune is an Invincible safeguard 
with pfenerous souls. Mademoiselle relates that her 
heart " fought against itself " In favour of her lover, 
and the heart conquered, since each new year found 
her still devoted, still indefatigable in her efforts to 
obtain his release. 



3i8 Louis XIV. and 

At the end of eight years there could be no more 
doubt. Contemporaries and those of the next gen- 
eration have tried in vain to discover why Louis 
XIV. attached so serious an importance to prevent- 
ing Lauzun from receiving news. Of what was he 
afraid ? Was it essential for the safety of France 
to insist upon such minute precautions ? 

One day, fresh linen was to be forwarded to 
Lauzun from Saint-Germain. Louvois wrote to 
Saint-Mars (February 2, 1672): " Have this washed 
two or three times before giving it to him." Saint- 
Mars signified that he comprehended and replied 
(February 20) : 

I shall not fail to have the linen you are sending to Lau- 
zun thoroughly wet after having every seam examined, any 
writing which may be upon the linen will thus vanish. 
Everything which is brought out of his room is put at 
once in a tub of water after being examined, and the laun- 
dress bringing it from the river dries it before the fire in the 
presence of my officers, who take turn at this duty, week by 
week. I also take the same precautions with the towels, 
napkins, etc. 

Another time, an ancient servant of Lauzun was 
arrested near Pignerol, who, realising that he was 
a prisoner, killed himself, and letters were found 
on the body. Had there been any intercourse with 
the prisoner? This thought cast Louvois into an 
inconceivable agitation. He wished at every cost 
to clear up the affair, and he found time even dur- 
ing the war with Holland to write letter after let- 
ter to Pignerol to order that trace of accomplices 
should be sought. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 319 

Men, presumably companions of the dead, were 
arrested. Two of them, who had fled to Turin, 
were delivered up through diplomatic action. It 
was necessary to make them speak ** through any 
means, no matter what " ; the question as to 
whether M. de Lauzun had received news must be 
solved. The attendants at Pignerol were much 
perturbed. An ojfficer wrote to Louvois to "conjure" 
him to denounce the suspected among the soldiers 
under his orders, that I may arrest them and attach 
them as villains." And if his two nephews, who were 
in the citadel, should be found to be the guilty ones 
he "would be their first executioner." Saint-Mars 
was humiliated and offended that he should be sus- 
pected of being hoodwinked. He became fero- 
cious against the "miserable beings" who had 
drawn down upon him this insult, and he willingly 
put them to the torture ; " for, to tell the truth," 
wrote he to Louvois, " I have only to find the 
smallest charge against a soldier or domestic, and I 
would hang him at once" (August 20). Some 
weeks later he summed up the result of the inquest 
in these terms (October 7) : "I cannot swear that 
an attempt has not been made to communicate with 
Lauzun, but I can pledge my life in the assurance 
that the effort has not been successful." 

Saint-Mars had another grief. Louvois recom- 
mended to him incessantly to make his prisoner 
talk and to report every word, even the most triv- 
ial, but Lauzun would not utter a syllable. " I do 
not know why," wrote Saint-Mars, naively, " but he 



320 Louis XIV. and 

distrusts me, and hardly dares to speak to me " 
(February lo, 1672). On March 19 : " He is al- 
ways in a state of extraordinary distrust of me." 
Louvois insisted, and received discouraged letters. 
(March 30 :) " When I make a visit, our conversa- 
tion is so dry and difficult that we often pace the 
room a hundred times without interchanging a 
word." Saint-Mars in vain sought innocent topics. 
He tried to converse about the weather. M. de 
Lauzun interrupted him under the pretext that the 
state of the weather was a matter of indifference to 
him, since, from his dungeon, he could see " neither 
moon nor sun." 

Saint-Mars inquired about his health. M. de 
Lauzun cut him short, in declaring that " his health 
was a matter of no consequence to any one, and 
that he was really only too well." Saint-Mars did 
not know what more to say. He became furious. 
Lauzun perceived this, and grew even more taci- 
turn. It was a fair and even fight. At the end of 
a year, Saint-Mars had not advanced an inch. 

[ January 7, 1673] When I said good morning or good 
evening, and when I asked him how he felt, he made low bows, 
saying that he was well enough to offer his most humble 
respects; after having thanked him, we walked some time to- 
gether without speaking to each other, and, as I wished to re- 
tire, I asked him if he had anything to demand. He made 
again a very low bow and conducted me to the door of 
the room; this is the point at which we have arrived, and 
I am afraid that we shall make no further progress. 

Saint-Mars tried to force the situation. It was 



La Grande Mademoiselle 321 

he who furnished the prisoner with everything; 
who gave him clothes, furniture, bought his eye- 
glasses, or ordered a wig. He thought that a 
method of making him speak would be to give him 
nothing that he did not demand. Lauzun invented 
a rnute language. 

Saint-Mars would perceive, in entering, some 
wornout or broken object placed in a conspicuous 
position, having the air of saying something. 
" Sometimes," wrote the governor of the citadel, " I 
feign not to notice, and in order to oblige me to 
speak, Lauzun will direct his steps so as to pass the 
object again and again until I am forced to compre- 
hend." (May 6, 1672.) 

The valet was almost as close as his master. 
Saint-Mars did not cease to lament the trouble 
which " these people " gave him. Prisoners' valets 
shared the fate of their masters. Once confined, 
they passed the sill of the prison only with the 
culprit ; that is to say, in many cases never, which 
fact rendered it extremely difficult to procure 
servants. The one with Lauzun was a " wicked 
rascal " who had been bribed, but who at the end of 
three months refused to do his duty as spy. 

Saint-Mars was indignant (February 20, 1672) : 
" With your permission, I will put him [the valet] 
in a place that I reserve, which makes the dumb 
speak after a month's sojourn. I shall learn all 
from him, and I am certain that he will not forget 
the least trifle." Upon reflection, however, Saint- 
Mars ended by being patient. How was he to 



322 Louis XIV. and 

replace the fellow ? " No one of the valets attached 
to the citadel would enter this dungeon if I paid 
him millions. They have noticed that those whom 
I have placed with M. Foucquet never come out." 
Louvois never knew, in spite of earnest desire, 
what thoughts the fallen favourite was conceiving 
in his prison. 

There was a slight recompense, however, on the 
days on which Lauzun fell into a rage, which often 
happened. The prisoner could not digest the fact 
that his questions remained unanswered. This 
might be reasonable enough if he asked if France 
were at war, or if Mademoiselle were married ; but 
why refuse news of his own affairs ? Why con- 
ceal from him the fact of his mother being alive or 
dead? His vexation became rage. He poured out 
a torrent of imprecations and bitter complaints, 
and Louvois had the pleasure of hearing by the 
next mail that silence did not indicate absence of 
suffering. 

One day (January 28, 1673), after giving an ac- 
count of one of these explosions, Saint-Mars added : 
"He said all this, weeping hot tears and crying 
that he detested his miserable life ; he complained 
loudly of the horrible dungeon which I have given 
him, where he has lost his sight and his health." 
The wails of grief echoed even through Paris, 
leaking out from the cabinet of Louvois and the 
chamber of Mme. de Montespan, and the public 
demanded with curiosity what Lauzun had done to 
deserve a punishment so rigorous. " I can never 



La Grande Mademoiselle 323 

believe," wrote Mademoiselle, " that it is by the 
orders of the King." It was easily guessed that 
Louvois was avenging his frights and Mme. de 
Montespan her humiliations ; but why did the King 
permit such severity ? for Louis had never appeared 
to take very much to heart the entanglements of 
these two Court powers with his favourite. 

It is needful to recollect that the seventeenth 
century had no greater respect for human liberty 
than for human life. Only rank and birth were of 
value, and these were honoured in a greater de- 
gree than it is possible now to comprehend. This 
same Louvois, who was tormenting Lauzun almost 
to the point of insanity, had hastened to send him a 
silver-service, and had asked him to complain if his 
guards were impolite. 

" M. de Saint-Mars," wrote the Minister, " has 
orders never to fail in according the respect due to 
your birth and to the position which you have held 
at Court" (December 12, 1672). From like consid- 
erations, the birth of Lauzun had brought him 
new furniture, but not a single object of any kind 
which could aid him in inventing occupation or 
employment. 

This was the real punishment : a complete in- 
action with not a single echo from the outer world 
which might prevent his mind from continually turn- 
ing inward upon itself. Lauzun only obtained a few 
books at long intervals, and always with great dif- 
ficulty, after every page had been examined in 
detail ; messages written in invisible ink were 



324 Louis XIV. and 

feared, and phrases which might throw light upon 
the events of the day. When the choice of htera- 
ture was left to Saint-Mars, he confined himself to 
Le Tableau de la Penitence or the Pedagogue Chre- 
tien. The contents of these were well known 
and, also, " they might be useful to lighten his 
despair." 

It will be remembered that Mademoiselle had 
scolded the " little man " to make him take greater 
care of his person and toilet. In prison, Lauzun 
had grown very careless. (April 20, 1672 :) " He 
grows so negligent that for three weeks he has 
worn a handkerchief knotted around his neck in 
place of a cravat." From note of July 30, 1672, 
more than seven months after his arrival : " He 
has not had his room swept, nor his glass rinsed ; 
he is extremely negligent." Lauzun had permitted 
his beard to grow, which contributed to his neg- 
lected appearance. Saint-Mars declared that it 
was a half-yard long. (February 11, 1673 :) " He 
is as disorderly at his meals as in his person and 
in his apartment." 

Years passed. In 1673, they pruned the trees 
which cut off the light. This was the only change. 
In 1674, the prisoner almost died. His health 
was shattered and his temper changed He be- 
came tranquil, except for an occasional access of 
anger, and was very polite to his jailer, who at- 
tributed this metamorphosis to the effects of the 
books of piety and the holy water freely supplied. 
Saint-Mars found him " very often " on his knees, 



La Grande Mademoiselle 325 

saying his prayers before an image of the Virgin, 
and had much joy in the change. 

In 1676, in the month of February, Louvois re- 
ceived a letter/ the contents of which passed through 
Paris like a flash of lig^htnino^. M. de Lauzun had 
almost succeeded in effecting his escape ; and 
neither by door nor window, the ordinary method 
in romances. He had made a hole in the dungeon 
of Pignerol by scratching with old knives, pieces of 
kitchen utensils, etc., and had succeeded in piercing 
the thick vault below his chamber. Lauzun rolled 
through this opening, and found himself between 
four walls, before a barred window. He began 
again to scrape ; he demolished one of the corners 
of the window, unfastened one of the bars, and 
saw that he was several fathoms above the ground. 
His foresight had caused him to collect a quantity 
of napkins, from which he made a rope ladder ; 
"the best made in the world," wrote Mademoiselle, 
with admiration for the sample sent to Louvois. 

He descended by this ladder to the moat sur- 
rounding the fortress," pierced the wall on the side of 
the moat," ^ encountered a rock, and recommenced 
at a short distance from the place of the first at- 
tempt " ; the new passage led into a court of the 
citadel. Lauzun reached the ground one morning 
at daybreak. He had passed three days in scrap- 
ing ; it was this occupation which had kept him 
tranquil. Only an open door, and he would have 

' This letter has been lost or destroyed. 
* Louvois to Saint-Mars, March 2, 1676. 



326 Louis XIV. and 

been saved. He would well have deserved success 
as a reward for his industry and patience. But all 
was firmly closed, and he was stopped by an incor- 
ruptible sentinel. 

The poor prisoner was brought back to his 
dungeon, and Louvois stormed at the authorities 
of Pignerol, who permitted walls and windows to 
be demolished without perceiving that anything 
strange was occurring. Repairs and numerous 
new measures of precaution were ordered, and 
Saint-Mars, very much abashed, swore by all the 
gods that such a thing should never again happen. 

In spite of these oaths, many of the prisoners 
succeeded in gaining access to their neighbours, 
according to the account of Saint-Simon.^ It seems 
that the open chimneys of ancient times had be- 
come an ordinary means of communication between 
the dungeons of Pignerol. " A hole was made in 
the pipe, which was carefully closed during the 
day," and with mutual aid the prisoners ascended 
and descended. Lauzun was placed in relation 
with various prisoners, of whom one was Foucquet, 
who believed him to be mad when listening to his 
account of the failure of the plan of marriage with 
the Grande Mademoiselle. These gentlemen must 
have resembled chimney sweeps. 

Saint-Mars, however, only knew of these practices 
after the death of Foucquet ; the troubles of Lauzun 

' The letter from Saint-Mars (March 23, 16S0) giving an account of the 
communications between the dungeons has never been found, any more 
than that telling of the flight of Lauzun. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 327 

were then at an end. The death of the eldest 
brother, which occurred in 1677, had brought new 
conditions. Lauzun became head of the family. 
His sister, Mme. de Nogent, represented to the 
King that it was needful for the preservation of 
the " House " that M. de Lauzun should be per- 
mitted to put his affairs in order, and she had 
no difficulty in obtaining a hearing. Although the 
individual counted for little, the " House " was a 
thing sacred, even in the eyes of Louis XIV. 
Saint-Mars was ordered to receive Mme. de No- 
gent, another of the brothers, Chevalier de Lauzun, 
and their advocate, M. Isarn, and to permit them 
to meet with his prisoner, exacting the promise that 
only business should be discussed. He forbade 
a single word, "under any pretext whatever," of 
Mile, de Montpensier. An account of these inter- 
views, sketched by Isarn, remains. It must not be 
forgotten in reading this document that Lauzun 
had a great interest in inspiring a lively pity in the 
hearts of these people who were returning to Paris. 
After long preliminaries, Isarn arrived for the first 
interview with Lauzun, whom no one had seen for 
six years. 

[October 29, 1667] Two o'clock having come, M. de Saint- 
Mars, after sending away all the attendants, asked M. Isarn 
to enter his room where six chairs were arranged around 
a table, and M. de Saint-Mars retiring, returned after a mo- 
ment leading M. le Comte de Lauzun, supporting him by the 
arm, for the Comte could hardly sustain himself, it may be on 
account of the open air, the bright light, or the weakness caused 
by his illness. 



328 Louis XIV. and 

At this sight, I confess, Monsieur, that we were moved 
with pity, for we remarked his haggard face and the extreme 
pallor of the countenance, as much as could be seen under 
the long beard and moustaches, the eyes subdued with sadness 
and languor, so that it would be impossible not to be moved 
with compassion. I can hardly express the grief of Madame 
his sister and Monsieur his brother. A chair near the fire 
was given to him, facing the window, but he shrank back, say- 
ing in a low voice, and coughing, that the bright light made 
his eyes and head burn. M. de Saint-Mars turned his prisoner 
away from the window, placing himself on one side and M. 
the Commissioner on the other. I was at the side of M. de 
Saint-Mars, having my papers before me on the table. Mme. 
de Nogent could not restrain her tears, and we remained some 
time without speaking. 

When they were all somewhat composed, Isarn 
entered into a summary of the affairs to be regu- 
lated. At the first pause, Lauzun interrupted. 
" He said coldly, that having been kept for six 
years and a portion of a seventh in a very restricted 
prison, and not having heard any business details 
for so long a time, and having met no one, his mind 
had become so * sealed,' and his intelligence so 
clouded, that it was impossible for him to compre- 
hend anything I was saying." He added affection- 
ate words for his sister, touching sentiments upon 
his grief at having displeased the King, and, as if 
overcome by the remembrance of his much-loved 
master, he carried his handkerchief to his eyes, 
"where it remained a long time." 

This spectacle provoked such an outburst of 
tears and groans that it was impossible to continue 
the conference. Lauzun "withdrew with Saint- 



La Grande Mademoiselle 329 

Mars without speaking." The sister was carried 
away in a dead faint. The Chevalier de Lauzun, 
ill with emotion, retired for the night, and Isarn 
shared in the general affliction. At the following 
sessions, Lauzun repeated that he comprehended 
nothing that his advocate said, but he gave him at 
the same time some instructions, " with much judg- 
ment and clearness." Touching scenes followed. 
One day, after having obtained permission, the pris- 
oner asked if his mother were living, and there 
was, in this case, no need of pretence to make the 
scene impressive. At the last interview, he charged 
his sister to implore the pity of the King and the 
pardon of Louvois, in humble and submissive terms, 
which showed a man conquered, crushed, and hence- 
forth inoffensive. 

It may be through compassion, it may be, as 
was hinted, through some new and mysterious 
combination, that this appeal produced a relaxation 
in the prison discipline, which ended in a half- 
freedom. Lauzon was permitted to give dinners, 
to buy saddle horses, " to ride in the court and on 
the bastions." ^ At length arrived a detachment of 
musketeers, charged to conduct him to the baths 
of Bourbon, under pretext that he was suffering 
with one of his arms. 

He quitted Pignerol April 22, 1681. Foucquet 
had died March 23, 1680. This left to Saint-Mars 
only a single man of note ; the Man with the Iron 
Mask had been in the fortress some time at this date. 

' Louvois to Saint-Mars, Novevember 28, 1679. 



330 Louis XIV. and 

Robinson Crusoe, leaving his island, was not 
more of a stranger to the course of events than a 
state prisoner after years of life in a dungeon. 
Foucquet had believed in listening to Lauzun that 
he was mentally deranged. When it was the fate 
of the latter to again come in contact with ordinary 
life, he found much difficulty in placing himself 
in the current. The history of France had been 
lengthened by a chapter while he was raging in his 
dungeon. The intimate story of Court life, the 
most important for an ancient favourite desirous 
of regaining a foothold, would have filled a volume 
with its tragi-comic complications. At first glance, 
the chapter of national history was dazzling. The 
war with Holland had given to France, Franche- 
Comte ; to Louis XIV., a glory and power which 
had raised him in European opinion above all other 
sovereigns. 

In the eyes of strangers, he was more than a 
king, he was the King, the incarnation of the mon- 
archical idea, the Prince who had made France the 
mistress of the civilised world. 

Never, in modern Europe [says a German historian ' who 
always considers the interests of France as opposed to those 
of Germany] has there been a development of military power 
over land and sea, for attack and defence, so extraordinary as 
that to which France had attained during the war, and pre- 
served during the ensuing peace; never before had a single 
will exercised so extended a command over troops so well 
trained and yet so submissive. 

' Leopold von Ranke, Histoire de France. 




u- i! 



Q rO 



La Grande Mademoiselle 33^ 

France was admired and feared. " Louis XIV.," 
says Ranke again, " reduced several of the Ger- 
man princes individually, and the Empire at large, 
to a degree of abasement to which they had not 
fallen during centuries." Spain itself was men- 
aced with the loss of its independence. Europe 
recognised that in " the history of the world there 
were few periods in which civilisation had so 
rapidly advanced and literature was so brilliant as 
that under Louis XIV." 

Such was France viewed from without, during 
the years which separated the peace of Nimeguen 
(1679) from the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes 
(1685). This brilliant picture showed, however, 
some shadows ; the vanquished guarded a deep 
resentment, and the former allies were detached 
without always being replaced by new ones ; but 
the country considered itself sufficiently strong to 
support its isolation. 

Seen from within, France presented to the super- 
ficial observer an appearance of prosperity. Upon 
a closer examination, however, it could be pre- 
dicted that the lean years were approaching. Many 
provinces had fallen back into misery. There was 
a general discontent, the disaffection made rapid 
progress ; the idea of centralised and absolute 
power, so well received at first, was beginning to 
pall upon the community. Four years after the 
death of Mazarin and the arrival to power of Louis 
XIV. keen-sighted men became anxious. 

Olivier d'Ormesson, like all the world at first 



332 Louis XIV. and 

under the influence of the charm of the young- 
King, wrote in 1665 (March) : " No one dares pro- 
test, ahhough all suffer and have their hearts filled 
with despair ; every one says that it is impossible 
for this state of things to last, the conduct of affairs 
being too unjust and violent." ^ Olivier d'Ormes- 
son had personal griefs. He had been disgraced 
for having shown himself too independent at the 
time of the prosecution of Foucquet, and he was 
also one of those old politicians, liberal after their 
own fashion, who held firmly to the privileges be- 
longing to their class, and who were not accus- 
tomed to see criticisms of the King punished more 
severely than blasphemies against the Deity. In 
1668, a poor old man from Saint-Germain was ac- 
cused " of having said that the King was a tyrant, 
and that there still existed some Ravaillacs and 
people of courage and virtue." He was con- 
demned to have his tongue cut out and to be sent to 
the galleys. " It is said," adds Ormesson, " that 
cutting out the tongue is a new punishment, and 
that it was formerly the custom simply to pierce 
the tongue of blasphemers." From the point of 
view of the times, the opinion of D'Ormesson is a 
little too advanced. 

But the same criticism cannot be made of Col- 
bert, then enjoying great favour and naturally a 
man of severity. In 1666 Colbert warned Louis 
XIV., in an almost brutal memorial, that through 
his extravagances he was leading France to ruin. 

' journal d' Olivier Leflvre d' Ormesson. 




o > 



O r^ 

o c 



La Grande Mademoiselle 333 

The memorial commenced by declaring that he 
(Colbert) did not wish stinginess where it was a 
matter concerning a good army or fleet, or in sus- 
taining the suitable magnificence of his master in 
foreign lands, or in any useful expenditures, among 
which he included the proper representation of a 
great sovereign. He affirmed that in all these 
matters he would rather urge a certain lavishness, 
and this was the truth. But he could not share in 
the responsibility for the enormous leakage by 
which the public wealth was being exhausted, for 
the millions squandered in fantastic camps, in fetes 
costing incredible sums,^ and in insane gambling 
debts.^ 

The memorial mentions also pensions and other 
gratifications given out freely, and makes other 
specifications, of which one merits some details, for 
it is curious, but rarely referred to, and according to 
Colbert led to the most dangerous consequences. 
As will be understood, nothing other than actual 
war cost France so dearly under Louis XIV., as the 
monarch's passion for playing at soldier in the 
presence of beautiful ladies. This mania at first 

' Two years after this warning Louis XIV. gave at Versailles, in honour of 
Mme. de Montespan, a fete for which special buildings were created. The 
ballroom, only used one night, was marble and porphyry ; the rest in 
accordance. 

^ A loss of more than 100,000 crowns was not rare at the gaming table of 
the King. March 6, 1670, Mme. de Montespan lost 400,000 pistoles in 
one night ; at eight in the morning she regained 500,000. The pistole is 
worth about ten francs. In 1682, three years after her disgrace, she lost 
at one time 700,000 crowns which she did not regain. The King paid her 
debts. 



334 Louis XIV. and 

glance appears innocent enough, only rather 
childish, 

Colbert pointed out the inevitable effects. The 
King assembled armies to afford to the ''ladies'' 
the spectacle of a camp or the simulation of a siege, 
or the troops were reviewed in places agreeable for 
women, instead of awaiting him in their barracks. 

The result was, that the perpetual marching of 
troops to and fro was causing the exhaustion of the 
provinces, for ** it is sufficient to say that such a 
city or halting-place has suffered within six months 
a hundred different impositions of troops, and that 
there are but few places which have not been obliged 
to stand at least fifty." 

The troops lived as they liked, entering and de- 
parting from their various lodging-places. "It can 
be affirmed distinctly that these places were left 
in a condition to which they would have been 
brought by a long war." If the King knew " how 
many peasants of Champagne, and the other pro- 
vinces lying near the frontier, are passing and ar- 
ranging to pass to other countries," he would 
comprehend that this state of affairs could not last. 

The most delicate reproof was yet to be made, 
and Colbert approached it courageously. Serious 
ridicule had fallen upon the great monarch for 
these fantastic games for the benefit of his " ladies^' 
not only with the French, but also among foreign- 
ers only too ready to seize an occasion for un- 
friendly comment. 

Louis had just installed a camp at Moret, motley 





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La Grande Mademoiselle 335 

and smart, with pretty tents for the Amazons. " It 
is said," wrote D'Ormesson, "that the siege of 
Moret will be made in due form, in order to show 
the '■ladies' the method of taking places by assault. 
People in general, disgusted and annoyed, treat 
this review as childish trifling for a King, and it is 
badly thought of in foreign countries." 

Olivier d'Ormesson did not display great merit 
in writing his comments in his journal for his 
eyes alone, but Colbert wrote for the King and had 
still many criticisms to add, 

** It is further advisable for your Majesty to know 
two things which no one has before dared to report : 
one that there has been a poster in Paris, bearing 
the words Louis XIV. will give an exhibitioit of 
Marionettes in the plain at Moret ; the other, 
the publication of a libel, still more bitter, upon the 
distinguished deeds of the fantastic captains." The 
King read the memorial and reread it in the pres- 
ence of Colbert, but the following year saw a new 
camp, in which the royal tent, composed of six 
sumptuous rooms, "was filled with cavaliers gor- 
geously attired, and better fitted to attract the 
enemy than to make him flee."^ Colbert did not 
succeed, even in time of war, in preventing a 
single trip to the frontier with a long train of 
women in rare apparel, and mistresses for whose 
accommodation it was necessary to put masons at 
work at every halting-place. 

* Letter of Mme. de Chatrier, attached to the House of Conde ; De La 
Valliere h Montespan, by Jean Lemoine and Andre Lichtenberger. 



33^ Louis XIV. and 

From Louvois, March 7, 1671 : 

" Arrange chamber marked V for Mme. de 
Montespan, opening a door in the place marked 
I. . . . Mme. de La ValHere will lodge in the 
chamber marked Y, in which a door must be made 
in the place marked 3N. . . ." The expense 
of the numerous doors, with many others equally 
irregular, entered into the budget of the Minister 
of War. 

How was it possible to keep the budget ac- 
counts ? How reduce unnecessary expenses ? Col- 
bert himself was obliged in his budget of the 
Marine to give space to the "■ ladies '' In 1678, 
Mme. de Montespan conceived the fantasy of fitting 
out a privateer, a vessel belonging to the King, be 
it understood, manned with the royal sailors. Some 
weeks later, a second and third vessel were sent out 
in the same manner as privateers, always at the 
King's expense, " by Mme. de Montespan and the 
Comtesse de Soissons."^ Including everything, 
the taste of Louis XIV. for conversation and the 
society of women, without mentioning the rest of 
his follies, probably cost France more than all the 
buildings erected by the Grand Monarch, but the 
one outlay can be calculated, and the other not. 

The large expenses of Versailles and of Marly are 
often alluded to, while the unfortunate peasants, 
who fled across the frontier after every military 
spectacle offered to the " ladies,'' are forgotten. 
Louis XIV. was incapable of keeping accounts ; 

' Letter from Colbert to the Intendant de Rochefort (April i6, 1678). 




u^ 



La Grande Mademoiselle 337 

that is his sole excuse. It is strange, however, that 
a man so methodical, having a mind so steady, so 
well regulated, had never been able to comprehend 
that figures are figures, and that no one is able to 
make two crowns out of one. Colbert never suc- 
ceeded in controlling the waste of his master, even 
in cases when the added profusion in no way in- 
creased the pleasure, and appears to us as a mere 
barbarous lavishness. 

It is known that in the seventeenth century the 
repasts were abundant. Those of Louis XIV. were 
excessively so. In 1 664, the King, having invited the 
Pope's legate to dine with him iSte-a-tite, those in at- 
tendance counted the dishes ; there were eighty, 
not including thirty-eight for dessert. This was 
certainly excessive, and Colbert had said In the Me- 
morial of 1660, *' I declare to your Majesty . . . 
that a useless meal, costing a thousand crowns, 
gives me an incredible pain." 

But the lavishness of fifteen years later was far 
greater. On January 16, 1680, the King married 
Mile, de Blols, his daughter by La Valliere, to 
Prince Louls-Armand de ContI, nephew of the 
great Conde. " The wedding festival was royal," 
wrote Bussy-Rabutin ; " there were seven hundred 
dishes on a single table, served in five courses, that 
is to say, one hundred and forty dishes to each 
course." Mme. de Sevlgne points the moral. " The 
young husband was 111 the entire night. It would 
he a temptation to say * Well deserved ! ' " 

If, from the incensed and suffering people, the 



33^ Louis XIV. and 

attention is turned towards the Court, the differ- 
ence between without and within is perhaps as 
clearly marked, although more difficult to define. 
Without, there is splendour, adulations given and 
received; within, a profound moral misery; with 
some, debauch and poverty ; with others, dis- 
couragement and bitterness. Mme. de Sevigne, in a 
letter of 1680, has unconsciously painted, in six 
lines, the state of degradation to which the King 
had systematically reduced the nobility of France, 
lined up, as it were, to catch purses thrown to them 
January 12: "The King is enormously liberal in 
truth ; it is not needful to despair ; one may not be 
a valet, but in making one's court, something may 
fall upon one's head. What is certain is that far 
from him [the King], all seems valueless ; for- 
merly it was otherwise." 

If souls were debased under Louis, he must be held 
in large part responsible. The same can be said in 
regard to the deterioration of manners and morals. 
France, before the time of Louis XIV., was accus- 
tomed enough to both mistresses and bastards, but 
not to the prerogatives of second wives conferred 
on the first, nor the legitimatising of adulteries 
which encouraged his subjects to consider no longer 
seriously either law or morality. The example of 
the master ended in deadening consciences already 
somewhat feeble, and husbands might be seen en- 
couraging their wives, the mothers of their daugh- 
ters, to imitate La Valliere and de Montespan. 

Louis had been in some degree punished for 




LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE, IN THE GARB OF THE ORDER OF THE CARMELITES 
After the painting by D. Plaats 



La Grande Mademoiselle 339 

having played sultan. Polygamy cannot exist with- 
out some discomfort, in a land in which women 
have any position. Few men, even upon the stage, 
have had so many quarrels with their mistresses, 
quarrels often violent, humiliating, as well as pain- 
ful, as this majestic monarch, before whom the 
universe trembled. Royalty does not exist before 
a jealous mistress, and Louis XIV. was faithful 
only to one, Mme. de Maintenon. 

The young King had been spoiled by Louise de 
La Valliere, who was gentleness itself, and whom 
love inclined to pardon all. None of the other 
mistresses really loved Louis, except perhaps Marie 
Mancini. Louis did not really please women ; it 
was only the King for whose favour they disputed. 

Mile, de La Valliere had entered the Carmelite 
convent in 1674. Left alone upon the "breach," 
Mme. de Montespan defended the situation like a 
lioness. She was naturally sharp-tempered, and 
her fits of anger were often ungovernable,^ as wit- 
nesses say, and Louis did not possess the force 
which innocence alone gives. Among the rivals 
who contended with Mme. de Montespan, many, 
in spite of her efforts, succeeded in enjoying their 
year, or at least their day. When she became en- 
raged, and the King was forced to bend his neck 
under the tempest, "she often scolded him and he 
did not assert himself."^ This was his method 
of expiation. The ephemeral reign of Mile, de 

* Memoires de la Fare. 

* Mdmoires de Mile, de Montpensier. 



340 Louis XIV. and 

Fontanges came. She also was passionate, and 
she treated the King with " more authority than the 
others."^ Louis called Mme. de Maintenon t6 his 
aid, and charged her to appease these furies. 
Stormy scenes began to weary him. 

It had been remarked since 1675 that Louis 
aspired to moments of " repose and of liberty." 
Mme. de Montespan, with all her intelligence, 
could not comprehend that there comes a time of 
life at which men can no longer live in the midst 
of tempests, and this error was the cause of her 
ruin. 

The King acquired the habit of fleeing for refuge 
to Mme. de Maintenon, where he found an atmos- 
phere of peace and enjoyed refreshing conversation. 

It was the first time that an intelligent woman 
had spoken seriously to him, without seeking to 
attract a declaration of love, nor to divert him with 
trifles, but to distract him agreeably from his work, 
and also to make him reflect upon certain subjects 
which did not always appeal to him. For example, 
what the sinner who had taken the wife of another 
might expect in the next world. She recalled to 
him the fact that there was a police in heaven as in 
the palaces of the King of France, and she asked 
him : " What would you say if some one should 
tell your Majesty that one of the musketeers you 
love had seduced a married woman, and that this 
woman was actually living with him ? I am certain 
that before evening this man would depart from 

' Memoir es de I'Abb/de Choisy. 




MADAME DE MAINTENON 
After the painting by P. Mignard in 1694 



La Grande Mademoiselle 341 

the palace, never to return, however late it might 
might be."^ 

The King laughed. He had never been more 
in love with Mme. de Montespan, — this happened 
in 1675, before the Jubilee, which separated them 
three or four months, — but he was not vexed with 
Mme. de Maintenon ; already he ''could not live 
without her." ^ One may or may not feel sympathy 
with this last, but it is certain that without her, 
without the empire that she knew how to gain over 
a prince ardent for pleasure, but by no means a 
veritable libertine, Louis XIV. might have ended 
shamefully. To every one their deserts. The 
Queen Marie-Therese was right in according her 
friendship to Mme. de Maintenon, who secured for 
her, somewhat late it is true, a certain consideration 
and some affectionate demonstration to which the 
poor Queen was not accustomed. 

When the King had passed forty, tranquillity 
became a need. He believed he had assured it by 
giving to Mme. de Montespan her official dismissal 
as the recognised mistress. The date of this event 
is known. March 29, 1679, the Comtesse de Sois- 
sons was prayed to yield to the ancient favourite 
her charge as superintendent of the palace of the 
Queen, a position which afforded a kind of regu- 
lated retreat. The next day, Mme. de Montespan 
wrote to the Due de Noailles to announce to him 
this arrangement, and she added : " Truly this is 

' Souvenirs sur Mme. de Maintenon. — Les Cahiers de Mile. d'Aumale, 
with an introduction by M. G. Hanotaux. ^ Ibid. 



342 Louis XIV. and 

very bearable. The King only comes into my room 
after mass and after supper. It is much better 
to see each other rarely with pleasure than often 
with boredom." The world was not deceived : 
" I really believe," wrote Bussy (April i ith), " that 
the King, just as he is, has given this position for 
past favours." 

From Mme. de Scudery to Bussy, October 29, 
1679 : " A diversion has been established for Mme. 
de Montespan for this winter, and provided that 
she can do without love, she will retain the consid- 
eration of the King. This is all that an honest 
man can do when he ceases to love." Bussy re- 
sponded, November 4th : " If Mme. de Montespan 
is wise she will dream only of cards and will leave 
the King in peace on the subject of love ; for it is 
impossible through complaints and scoldings to lure 
back unfaithful lovers." 

Mme. de Montespan was not wise. In the 
hope of bringing the King back to her arms by 
force, she redoubled the disagreeable scenes. At 
this moment, an obscure past, filled with vague 
and frightful events, rose against her, and the expi- 
ation for havino- too much loved became almost 
tragic in its character. 

La Voisin, the poisoner, cannot be forgotten, nor 
the prosecution in 1668, which had revealed to 
the young King the connection of his new mis- 
tress with the world of malefactors. This affair 
was stifled, but the evil continued in its subter- 
ranean influence. The merchants of love philters 



La Grande Mademoiselle 343 

and of poisons and the priests of satanic rites saw 
their clients increasing in number year by year. 
When the crimes finally came to the surface, and 
Louis established (March 7, 1679) ^^^ " Chambre 
ardente'' to purify France from the gangrene, so 
many Parisians were connected in one way or an- 
other with the accused that the King had against 
him a powerful current of opinion. This is, per- 
haps, the most significant feature of the sad affair. 
Instead of being crushed with shame in learning 
how many were compromised, the higher classes 
were indignant against the equal justice which re- 
fused to give them special consideration. They 
murmured loudly, and for once the people were 
with them, for the populace remained staunch to 
the sorcerers. The clamours were so menacing 
that the judges of the ''Chambre ardente''' felt 
themselves in danger : " I know," wrote Bussy-Ra- 
butin on April ist, ''the chamber instituted to 
examine the ' corrupters,' and also know that Mes- 
sieurs de Bezons and de La Reynie do not pass 
from Paris to Vincennes without an escort of the 
King's Guards."^ Louis XIV. was obliged several 
times to strengthen the resolution of these judges ; 
sometimes in openly commanding them to " judge 
truly " ^ without any distinction of person, condition, 

' Letter to the Marquis de Trichateau. 

^ Note by La Reynie (December 27, 1679). The documents of the Affaire 
des poisons form more than 1300 pages of the Archives de la Bastille, and 
they are not complete. Certain especial depositions, particularly com- 
promising for Mme. de Montespan, are lacking, and were probably burned 
by order of Louis XIV. 



344 Louis XIV. and 

or sex ; sometimes by assuring them through 
official letter of his " protection." ^ 

The first executions before the Chambre ardente 
took place in February, 1679, and the list of the 
names of those arrested or of those to whom no- 
tices of warrants to appear as witnesses had been 
served, a list which made so great an excitement 
on account of the aristocrats included,^ is dated 
January 23, 1680. It had been at least four 
months before,^ that there had come to the ears 
of the King, as some one was reading to him the 
account of the last examinations, two familiar names. 
Who is Mile, des QEillets, ancient "follower" of 
Mme. de Montespan ? Who is Cato, her maid, and 
what had they to do with La Voisin and with those 
like her ? These same names again appearing in 
the list of January 6, 1680, the King, while declar- 
ing that the witnesses must certainly have lied,^ or- 
dered the Procurer-General, M. Robert, " to pay 
strict attention to this particular case." 

This was done, with the result that Louis was 
forced to ask himself if the woman whom he adored 
above all others, and who had borne him seven child- 

' Louvois to Boucherat, President of the CJiambre, February 4, 1680. 

* It included the Comtesse de Soissons, the Marquise d'AUuye (the King 
saved both), the Due de Luxembourg (victim of an error), the Vicomtesse 
de Polignac, the Marquis de Feuquieres, the Princesse de Tingry, the 
Marechale de la Ferte, the Duchesse de Bouillon, etc. 

^ Cf. Archives ds la Bastille, the " Note autographe " of La Reynie, dated 
September 17, 1679. Was this the first time that these names had appeared ? 
The destruction of portions of the testimony through the orders of the King 
does not permit the real truth to be disclosed. 

* Louvois to M. Robert, January 15, 1680. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 345 

ren, was a vile " corrupter " ; if this perfect body 
for which he had risked the safety of his soul had 
taken part in the ignoble ceremonies of the infa- 
mous Guibourg ? If, discontented with the thought 
of sharing his favours with rivals, she might not in 
an access of jealousy have tried to poison him, the 
King? He sought the truth, but did not find it. 
In waiting further developments, Louis led his mis- 
tress with him wherever he might go, and she was 
always making a disturbance of some sort. The 
King grew less patient ; that was the only differ- 
ence. 

From Bussy-Rabutin, May 18, 1680: 
" The King . . . as he was mounting into his 
carriage with the Queen had some rough words with 
Mme. de Montespan, about the scents with which 
she deluged herself, which made his Majesty ill. 
The King at first spoke politely, but as she re- 
sponded sharply, his Majesty grew warm." On the 
25th, Mme. de Sevigne noted another "serious em- 
broilment." This time Colbert succeeded in recon- 
ciHng them. The situation grew painful. A long 
series of letters and memoir es have been found in 
which La Reynie discusses for the King the charges 
accumulated against Mme. de Montespan. The 
picture is given of the doubts and fluctuations of an 
honest man whose responsibilities somewhat rankle 
in his breast, and who sees an equal peril in dis- 
honouring the throne and in permitting a guilty 
woman to remain near the King. Louis passed 
through many successive stages of conviction 



346 Louis XIV. and 

during the prosecution. The further the examina- 
tion proceeded, the stronger became the presump- 
tion of guilt, without, however, bringing positive 
proofs. 

On July 12, 1680, La Reynie summed up for 
his master the history of the " petition to be used 
in poisoning the King." On October nth he de- 
clared that he should be ruined in the affair, and 
supplicated his Majesty to reflect whether it would 
be for the "welfare of the State," to make these 
" horrors " public. In the month of May following, 
he avowed that he had erred on some points and 
that there was more evil than at first appeared. The 
marvellous control that Louis possessed over himself 
prevented outward betrayal ; but certainly these un- 
certainties, these inferior conflicts, and it is to be 
hoped some sense of shame and remorse, became 
chastisements for his faults. On her side, Mme. de 
Montespan, in spite of the secret of her possible 
guilt being well guarded both at Court and by the 
judges and police, could not be ignorant that Mile, 
des QEillets had been interrogated, confronted with 
witnesses, and imprisoned for life in the general Hos- 
pital at Tours.-^ Mme. de Montespan then knew that 
she had been denounced, but with what proof ? 
What did the King think ? What curious meetings 
between these two beings must have taken place. 
What conversations during which the King and his 
mistress were closely observing each other. 

' She died there September 8, 1686. Cato seems to have been dismissed, 
althougli she had been placed with Mme. de Montespan by La Voisin. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 347 

Court life, nevertheless, pursued its monotonous 
course, and Mme. de Montespan continued to 
figure in positions of honour. In March, 1689, she 
goes to meet the Dauphin^ with the rest of the 
Court, and it is she who has charge of the choice 
and arrangement of the wedding presents, " being 
the woman in the world," wrote Mademoiselle, 
"who knows the best forms." In July, the King 
led her to Versailles with her sister, Mme. de 
Thianges, and her niece, the beautiful Duchesse de 
Nevers. This lady the mother and aunt were cynic- 
ally offering to the Monarch.^ In February, 1681, 
" a lottery was opened at Mme. de Montespan's, of 
which the largest prize was one hundred thousand 
francs, and there were a hundred others offered of 
one hundred pistoles each." In July, 1682, the 
Chambj^e ardente was suddently suppressed. Of the 
three hundred accused, thirty-six people of no im- 
portance had been executed, one hundred sent to 
the galleys, or to prisons, or convents, or exiled ; 
the noted among them always gaining some con^ 
cessions. The dungeons of Paris and Vincennes 
were crowded. The smaller fry were released, 
and the remainder were scattered, without any 
other trial, through the provincial prisons, to 
await a death rarely slow in coming to relieve 
their misery. 

From Louvois to M. de Chauvelin, Intendant, 

' Marie-Anne-Christine de Baviere, coming to marry the Grand Dauphin. 
^ Cf. Les souvenirs de Mfne. de Caylus and — among others — the letter of 
Mme. de Sevigue dated July 17, 1680. 



34^ Louis XIV. and 

December i6, 1682, announcing the arrival of one 
of these convoys : 

Above all, please take care to prevent any of these gentle- 
men from proclaiming aloud, a thing which has already oc- 
curred, any of the absurd statements connected with Mme. de 
Montespan, which have been proved to be absolutely without 
foundation. Threaten a punishment so severe at the first 
utterance that they will not dare to breathe a word further. 

This letter ended the connection of Mme. de 
Montespan with the affair of the "corrupters of 
morals " or the poisoners. She was saved, but was 
this due to proofs of innocence or to reasons of 
State, to the refusal of Louis to credit the testi- 
mony of an Abbe Guibourg or Lesage, or to the 
remnants of an old tenderness ? The few men with 
whom it had been necessary to share the secrets 
which would respond to these questions were so 
perfectly mute that contemporaries suspected no- 
thing. They saw the ancient favourite a little neg- 
lected, but always dreaming of the possibility of 
reasserting herself, as the many pages of the M^- 
moires of Mademoiselle testify. All this was in the 
natural course of events. 

One single indication of what Louis XIV. thought 
at the bottom of his soul is possessed ; a letter from 
the King to Colbert, who knew all. Mademoiselle 
had prayed Mme. de Montespan to solicit some 
favour for Lauzun. The King charged Colbert to 
reply for him (October, 1681) : "You will politely 
explain to her that I always receive the marks of 
her friendship and confidence with pleasure, and that 



La Grande Mademoiselle 349 

I am very vexed when it is not possible to do what 
she desires, but at this time I can do no more than 
I have already done." '^ Did he believe the mistress 
innocent or had he pardoned her ? 

The first preoccupation of Lauzun, in returning 
to the world, must have been to make clear to him- 
self through legitimate or illegitimate means the 
chronology of the King's love affairs, a history so 
essential for the comprehension of the interior life 
of the Court. 

The main facts for this record have been already 
given in the preceding chapter. The returned 
prisoner had afterwards to learn all that Mademoi- 
selle had accomplished for him during his captivity, 
and of what the public thought of her efforts, and 
he recognised that no one in France except Segrais 
doubted the fact of their marriage. That the mar- 
riage had taken place before his imprisonment was 
the prevalent belief, which was never really shaken. 
It again came to light in the eighteenth century. 
The historian Anquetil saw at Treport, in 1 744, an 
old person of more than seventy years of age, who 
resembled the portraits of the Grande Mademoi- 
selle and did not know from whence came her 
pension.^ This person believed herself to be the 
daughter of the Duchesse de Montpensier, and local 
tradition confirmed this conviction. There were, 
however, no absolute proofs, and it will be seen 
further on how this question of the marriage with 

' Mtne. de Moniespan et Louis XIV. 

* Louis XIV,, sa Cour et le Regent, by Anquetil (Paris, 1789). 



350 Louis XIV. and 

Lauzun is brought up over and over again in the 
biography of the Grande Mademoiselle, with a 
monotony slightly fatiguing and without it being 
possible to ever obtain a clear response. 

Whatever the fact may be, the Princess gave a 
very fine example of constancy and fidelity. She 
lived for ten years absorbed in a single thought. 
The M^moires for the year 1673 say: "I remem- 
ber nothing which has taken place during the past 
winter. My grief occupies me so much that I have 
but little interest in the actions of others." To 
liberate Lauzun had become a fixed idea, and she 
attached herself to the steps of the King and to 
those of Mme. de Montespan, without permitting 
herself to remember the ill that they had com- 
mitted, as It was they alone who could loosen the 
bonds. The more they showed themselves in- 
exorable, the more Mademoiselle redoubled her 
assiduities. In 1676 she enjoyed for the brief space 
of two hours the delusion that Louis XIV. at length, 
at the end of ten years, was moved with a feeling 
of compassion. The news of the attempted escape 
of Lauzun had just been received. " I learned that 
the King had listened to the account with some 
sign of humanity, I can hardly say of pity. If he 
had felt this, would he [Lauzun] still be there ?" 

The Princess wrote to the King, but received no 
response ; and again four years rolled by. Mme. 
de Montespan was no longer favourite. The court- 
iers considered it shrewd to neglect her. Better 
Inspired, Mademoiselle continued to stand fast by 



La Grande Mademoiselle 351 

her, and the result proved the wisdom of this 
course, in the dramatic moment, for Louis, of the 
affair of the corrupters. It was in the spring of 
1680, while denunciations were falling upon the 
fallen favourite as upon all those connected with 
La Voisin, that Mademoiselle remarked by certain 
movements and a change of tone that something 
was stirring between Mme. de Montespan and the 
fortress of Pignerol : 

I went to her daily and she appeared touched by the 
thought of M. de Lauzun. , . , She often said to me: 
"But think how you can make yourself agreeable to the King, 
that he may accord to you what you desire so dearly." 
She threw out such suggestions from time to time, which 
advised me that they were thinking of my fortune. 

The phrase of a friend came back to her : " But 
you should let them hope that you will make M. 
de Maine your heir." She recalled other hints 
which at first had passed unnoticed, and under- 
stood that a bargain was offered. 

The monarch and his ancient favourite had 
ao^reed between them to sell to Mademoiselle the 
freedom of the man she loved so deeply. What 
was to be the price ? This was not yet disclosed. 
It was some time before Mademoiselle compre- 
hended, and then she was so disconcerted that she 
said nothing. She felt that the combat was not an 
equal one between herself, from whom passion had 
taken away all judgment, and Mme. de Montes- 
pan, who was perfectly calm, and she hesitated, 
fearing some snare : '* Finally, I resolved to make 



352 Louis XIV. and 

M. de Maine my heir, provided that the King 
would send for Lauzun and consent that I should 
marry him." Some third person brought these 
conditions to Mme. de Montespan and was re- 
ceived with open arms. Louis XIV. thanked his 
cousin graciously without making any allusion to 
the condition ; he could always assert that he had 
made no promise. 

Mademoiselle wished that he would at least give 
her some news of Lauzun. Mme. de Montespan 
responded to her insistence : " It is necessary to 
have patience," and affairs remained at this point. 

At the end of some weeks. Mademoiselle per- 
ceived that she was no longrer free. She had 
counted upon taking her time and having sureties 
before proceeding further. An immediate execu- 
tion of the deed of gift was insisted upon, and 
she was so harassed that she no longer felt at 
liberty to breathe freely. 

" The King must not be played with," declared 
Mme. de Montespan ; " when a promise Is made it 
must be kept." " But," objected Mademoiselle, 
" I wish the freedom of M. de Lauzun, and sup- 
pose that after what I have done I should find 
myself deceived, and my friend should not be 
liberated?" Louvois was then sent to frighten 
her, or Colbert in order to compass some conces- 
sion. It was no longer a matter of testament. 

A donation while living^ was exacted, of the 
Principality of Dombes and of the Comte of Eu 

' The gift to be enjoyed only after the death of Mademoiselle. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 353 

without reference to the rest, and this assignment 
was obtained, in spite of complaints and the 
bitterest tears ; " for they were demanding pre- 
cisely what had been given to Lauzun, and Ma- 
demoiselle could not without difficulty resolve to 
despoil her lover." She finally comprehended that 
the King would not cease persecuting her until she 
consented, and, feeling no hope of diminishing the 
demands,^ she yielded. 

The gift to the Due de Maine was signed Feb- 
ruary 2, 1 68 1. It gave some agreeable days to 
Mademoiselle. The King assured her of his grati- 
tude. " At supper he regarded me pleasantly and 
conversed with me ; this was most charming." 
Nevertheless, Lauzun did not appear. One day 
Mme. de Montespan informed the Princess that the 
King would never permit Lauzun to be Due de 
Montpensier, and that it would be necessary to 
have a secret marriage. The Princess cried out : 
" What ! Madame, I am to permit him to live with 
me as my husband with no marriage ceremony ! 
Of what will the world think me capable ? " 

This passage in the Mdmoires apparently fixes 
the date of marriage after the return of Lauzun 
from his captivity. There exist, however, a num- 
ber of moral proofs against this later date. 

Some time after this conversation, in the be- 
ginning of April, 1 68 1, the Court being at 
Saint-Germain, Mme. de Montespan announced to 
Mademoiselle the immediate departure of Lauzun 

' M^moires de Saint- Simon. 
23 



354 Louis XIV. and 

for the Baths of Bourbon, and she then drew her, 
sHghtly against her will, to the end of the terrace, 
far from indiscreet ears. " When we were in the 
Val, which is a garden at the end of the Park of 
Saint-Germain, she said to me, * The King has asked 
me to tell you that he does not wish you to dream 
of ever marrying M. de Lauzun, at least, officially.' " 

Mademoiselle had been tricked. 

" Upon this, I began to weep and to talk about 
the gifts I had made, only on the one condition. 
Mme. de Montespan said, ' I have promised no- 
thing.' She had gained what she wished, and was 
willing enough to bear anything I might say." 
In the evening it was necessary to assume a de- 
lighted air and thank the King for Lauzun's free- 
dom ; a single sign of ill-humour and Mademoiselle 
ran the risk of receiving nothing in exchange for 
her millions. 

There remained the task of forcing Lauzun to re- 
nounce the gifts formerly presented to him. Mme. 
de Montespan took the route to Bourbon, where 
" she found greater difficulty than she had antici- 
pated." Her demands so surpassed the expecta- 
tions of the late prisoner that he revolted. There 
were many disputes, many despatches, and many 
delays,^ at the end of which the obstinate one, having 
been relmprlsoned,^ was so harassed with threats 
and promises that he finally yielded. His signature 
was given ; he believed himself free. Instead of 
liberty, he received an order of exile to Ambolse. 

' Saint-Simon, Ecrits inMits. ''At Chalon-sur-Saone. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 355 

He also had been duped. This affair is odious 
from beginning to end. 

Mademoiselle was Lauzun's resource and provi- 
dence. She compensated him as far as might be 
with a fresh devotion, in which Saint-Fargeau 
figured as an item, and found means to pay him 
nearly 300,000 francs ^ over what the King would 
have been oblio^ed to g:ive him if he had not been 
sent to Pignerol. With much difficulty, the impor- 
tunities of Mademoiselle obtained the desired per- 
mission for the ex-prisoner to salute the King and 
afterward to dwell where it pleased him, on the 
single condition that he would not approach the 
Court. Access to this was strictly forbidden ; but 
what would it have mattered, when he would have 
humbled himself before his master ? 

Alas ! the charm was broken, and for ever. In 
March, 1682, at the single interview granted, Lau- 
zun threw himself ten times, consecutively, at the 
feet of Louis XIV. — the King himself relates this 
— and employed all his grace, all his flatteries, with- 
out succeeding in breaking the ice. 

Received coolly and dismissed without delay, 
there was nothing left but to fall back upon Ma- 
demoiselle. They had not yet met, and It Is a 
terrible test of devotion to meet after eleven years, 
and to endeavour to again open the page closed by 
misfortune. The Grande Mademoiselle of the 
time previous to the Imprisonment at Pignerol 
singularly resembled the Hermlone of Racine, in 

* Exactly, according to the official figures, 284,940 francs. 



35^ Louis XIV. and 

her jealousy and violence. The one of 1682 was 
not yet a tranquil person, but Hermione was an old 
woman, and Pyrrhus a licentious greybeard, who 
was endeavouring to recompense himself for the 
time lost in prison. 

Years had not made Lauzun in love with his 
benefactress, and he arrived to meet her well re- 
solved to finish simply with expressions of grati- 
tude and of love. Mademoiselle was well aware of 
his infidelities. The grief, mingled with irritation, 
which she felt displayed itself in a sort of stiffness 
and embarrassment. The great joy she had an- 
ticipated in again seeing her lover, she did not 
realise. 

She had existed ten long years for this moment, 
and when it came, she desired to escape. She 
went to await Lauzun at Mme. de Montespan's, a 
first piece of absurdity. " M. de Lauzun," say her 
Mimoires, " arrived after his interview with the 
King ; he wore an old undress uniform with short 
waistcoat, almost in rags, and a very ugly wig.^ 
He sank at my feet with much grace. Then Mme. 
de Montespan led us into a cabinet, and said, 'You 
will be glad to speak together.' She then went 
away, and I followed her." A second ridiculous 
action ! Lauzun profited by the delay to salute 
the rest of the royal family. On returning, he 



' The coat called a brevet, because it could only be worn with a brevet 
from the King, was changed every year. It was thus very out of fashion at 
the end of twelve years. Lauzun had worn a wig at Pignerol, to protect 
his head against the dampness of his dungeon. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 357 

found his Princess with Mme. de Montespan and 
did not see her an instant alone : ** He told me 
that he had been cordially received, and that this 
he owed to me ; that I was his only source of good, 
the one from which he received all. He made cer- 
tain amiable propositions, and in thus acting he was 
only wise. I was silent ; I was astonished." 

This interview finished, Lauzun considered him- 
self free from his obligations and returned to Paris 
with a peaceful conscience. Mademoiselle dared 
not follow him too quickly. The fourth day they 
were at Choisy, a new mansion that Mademoiselle 
had built two leagues from Sceaux. Lauzun re- 
garded the Princess while she was having her head 
adorned with flame-coloured ribbons. " He said, 
' I was astonished to see the Queen with many- 
coloured ribbons on her head.' 'You must find it 
wrong, then, that I should wear them, who am 
older?' He did not reply. I told him that rank 
permitted the decoration for a longer period." Ma- 
demoiselle had at first written, '* People of my 
rank are always young," but had effaced the 
phrase. Lauzun knew well how to restore her to 
a good-humour, and he let himself be scolded, es- 
caping towards evening to return to his pleasures. 

The fifth day they again disputed. Lauzun was 
in the wrong ; he had spoken of his visits to 
Choisy as duties. Mademoiselle, however, injured 
her cause with sharpness. " I see clearly," said 
she, " that in this world people who do good 
are mocked, as they are bores." Lauzun, vexed, 



358 Louis XIV. and 

demanded, " How much longer is this pleasantry to 
last ? " " As long as I please ; I have the right to 
say all I wish, and you are bound to listen." Lau- 
zun showed " much impatience to depart," and this 
was not altogether unnatural, considering the na- 
ture of man. At another interview, it was the 
lover who was the first to show irritation. To 
be no longer of any importance in the world of 
society, to be two steps from the Court with- 
out being free to enter, this was more than he 
could bear. He accused Mademoiselle of hav- 
ing managed very badly and having only done 
harm ; " if she had not interfered with his affairs," 
he would have come out of prison under better con- 
ditions. Mme. de Montespan overheard the accu- 
sation and was very indignant at this injustice and 
ingfratitude, and the Princess united with her in 
reproaches. It would be difficult to find a clear 
moment in the midst of these frequent quarrels, in 
which the pair would have desired to marry, if they 
had not done so before Pignerol. Here is again a 
moral proof to add to the others. 

About every two days, Lauzun became meta- 
morphosed, and was again for some hours, or at 
least minutes, for Mademoiselle the former " little 
man " whose eccentricities gave an Indescribable 
charm, difficult to explain, but impossible to deny. 
He had not the least trouble in again captivating 
his mistress. As soon as he assumed the sweet 
and submissive air and the enigmatical smile which 
she had so dearly loved (even combined with the 



La Grande Mademoiselle 359 

manners which she sometimes distrusted, " of be- 
ing acquainted with everything without speaking 
or copying"), Mademoiselle fell anew under the 
charm and could refuse nothing. But this happy 
state of affairs never lasted. The time to obtain 
from her some new concession, another service, 
and the exaggerated manner of the convict drag- 
ging his chain reappeared. He loved to exasper- 
ate her jealousy. If nothing better offered, " he 
amused himself with grisettes," ^ even after the 
royal family had received him as cousin " under- 
stood," if not avowed, and when all Paris was con- 
gratulating Mademoiselle on his happy release. 

Other serious difficulties arose from the fact of 
Lauzun considering the money of Mademoiselle as 
his own. Choisy appeared to him a useless ex- 
pense ; he found much fault with its management. 
"The terraces cost immense sums," said he one 
day while walking in the grounds ; "what good are 
they ? " The Princess had sold in his absence a 
chain of pearls. " Where is the money ? " de- 
manded Lauzun. He wished to hold the purse 
strings, and no longer to be a "beggar." It aston- 
ished him that Mademoiselle had not thought of 
preparing for him, before his arrival, "a beauti- 
ful apartment," of organising his establishment, of 
placing one of her carriages at his disposal. 

He complained openly in the social world that she 
left him without a penny ; that she had only given 
him some diamonds, worth perhaps one thousand 

^ Ecrits ine'dits, Saint-Simon. 



360 Louis XIV. and 

pistoles in all — and what stones, so "ugly" ! — and 
that he had immediately sold them to obtain means 
of " subsistence." This is the perpetual complaint of 
the youthful husband, who wishes to be recompensed 
for the devotion lavished upon an elderly wife. The 
"beautiful apartment" existed and awaited him, 
but it was at the Chateau of Eu ; the King would 
not tolerate his presence at the Luxembourg. 

Those who had the good fortune to visit Eu be- 
fore the fire of 1902 will not have forgotten the 
flight of Loves on the ceiling of a chamber situ- 
ated above that belonging to Mademoiselle. The 
Chamber of the Loves was the one designed for 
Lauzun, who failed, however, to honour the sym- 
bol. After a delay of three weeks, he no sooner 
arrived than he committed the unpardonable im- 
prudence of running after the village girls, under 
the very eyes of Mademoiselle. This was too 
much. The mistress of the chateau beat Lauzun, 
scratched his face, and turned him out of doors. 
There he should stay. He was sufficiently shrewd 
to desire an accommodation. The Comtesse de 
Fiesque served as intermediary. 

In the Chateau of Eu there was a long gallery 
filled with family portraits. Mademoiselle appeared 
at one end ; " he [Lauzun] was at the other, and 
he crept along on his knees the entire length of 
the gallery, till he reached the feet of Mademoi- 
selle." ^ Possibly they forgave each other sincerely, 

' Saint-Simon, M^moires. Saint-Simon takes his details from an eye- 
witness. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 361 

but when friction once exists between married 
couples it continues, whether in the palace of princes 
or in the huts of charcoal burners. Such scenes, 
more or less stormy, occurred again in the future. 
Lauzun grew weary of being beaten, and in his 
turn used force with the Princess, and this hap- 
pened several times. In the end, disgusted with 
each other, they fought for the last time and 
separated, never to meet again. 

The final quarrel is related in detail in the 
Mimoires of Mademoiselle. It happened in the 
spring of 1684. France was at war with Spain. 
On April 2 2d the King departed to join his army, 
refusing to permit Lauzun to accompany him, who 
imagined, rightly or wrongly, that Mademoiselle 
was responsible for the prohibition, and was in- 
dignant. He went to the Luxembourg, where a 
reception of raillery exasperated him still further : 

I met him laughing, and said: " You must retire to Saint- 
Fargeau; you will be a laughing stock if you remain at Paris, 
as you were not permitted to go with the King, and I shall be 
very vexed if it is believed that it is I who have caused you to 
remain behind." He replied: " I am going away, and bid you 
farewell; I shall never see you again." I said: "It would 
have been better if we had never met; but better late than 
never." " You have ruined my career," replied he ; " you 
might as well have cut my throat; it is your fault that I 
am not with the King ; you asked him to leave me behind." 
" Oh, that is false; he will tell you so himself." Lauzun grew 
more and more angry, and I remained very calm. I said to 
him : " Adieu, then "; and I entered my boudoir. I remained 
there some time ; on returning, I found him still there. The 
ladies present said: " Do you not wish to play cards ? " I 



362 Louis XIV. and 

approached him, saying : " This is too much ; keep your pro- 
mise; go away." He finally withdrew. 

This rupture made a great scandal. Dangeau, 
who had followed the King to the frontier, noted 
on May 6th, in his journal : " The news comes 
from Paris that Mademoiselle has forbidden M. de 
Lauzun to appear again before her." Thus ends 
meanly and miserably, with a scene worthy of 
Dickens, the most famous passion of the century, 
after that of Chimene and Rodrigue. The first 
interest in the affair abated, the hero of the ro- 
mance sank into obscurity. Mademoiselle cast her- 
self into an ecstasy of pious devotion, from which 
the virtue of pardoning the offences of others was 
apparently excluded. 

Lauzun sought some support to which to attach 
himself, and did not easily find it. He realised too 
late that one could not quarrel with impunity with 
a princess of the blood. He made attempts at re- 
conciliation, which Mademoiselle repulsed ; she had 
loved with too much ardour not to be capable of 
furious hate. The career of both lovers appeared 
to be finished, when the fantastic star which had 
guided Lauzun towards so many adventures, mar- 
vellous if not always agreeable, led him to England 
during the autumn of 1688. He sought a more 
hospitable court, he found a revolution and glory. 
" I admire the star of M. de Lauzun," wrote Mme. 
de Sevigne, "which again brings its light over the 
horizon when it was supposed to be for ever extin- 
guished " (December 24, 1688). 



La Grande Mademoiselle 363 

The name of Lauzun was actually again on the 
lips of all. He had saved the Queen of England 
and her son, and had brought them to Calais at 
great risk, and suddenly assumed the pose of a 
true hero, wrongly despised and persecuted. " It 
is long," at once said Louis, "since Lauzun has 
seen my writing. I believe that he will rejoice at 
receiving a letter from me." The royal missive 
bore to the former favourite more than the pardon 
for the past ; it spoke of " impatience to see him 
again."-' Mademoiselle considered this an outrage 
against herself ; the ministers and courtiers, a men- 
ace. (December 27th) : " He [Lauzun] has found 
the road again to Versailles by way of London ; but 
he alone is joyful." The Princess is indignant at 
the thought that the King is again content with 
him, and that he can return to Court. ^ 

In vain the King sent Selgnelay to say to 
his cousin, as a sort of excuse and consolation : 
" After such services rendered by Lauzun, it is 
my duty to see him." Mademoiselle grew angry, 
and said, " This is then the gratitude I receive 
for having despoiled myself for the sake of the 
King's children." One of the friends of M. de Lau- 
zun was charged to present her with a letter. She 
threw it into the fire unread.^ When it was real- 
ised that she was not to be appeased, people ceased 
to concern themselves with her and her bad temper. 
Lauzun re-entered in triumph the Court of France, 

' Saint-Simon, Ecrits inMits. '^ Sevigne. 

^ Mimoires de la Cour de France, by Mme. de La Fayette. 



364 Louis XIV. and 

and Bussy-Rabutin, in a letter to Mme. de Sevigne,^ 
summed up the record of his career (February 2, 
1689): "We have seen him in favour, we have 
seen him submerged, and now behold he is again 
riding the waves. Do you remember a childish 
game in which one says, ' I have seen him alive, I 
have seen him dead, I have seen him alive after his 
death ' ? This tells his history." 

The " second volume of the romance " offers to 
those interested an account of the solemn confer- 
ring upon the little Lauzun, in the church of Notre 
Dame, by King James II., of the Order of the 
Garter. To this chapter succeeds one less brilliant. 
Lauzun received the appointment as commander of 
the French troops sent to Ireland to sustain the 
cause of legitimate monarchy. He lacked the ne- 
cessary qualifications for this post. He astonished 
his officers with his incapacity, and made them 
blush by displaying " a longing to return to 
France,"^ which was not heroic. 

Louis XIV. consented to make Lauzun Duke, 
upon " the urgent prayer " ^ of their Britannic Majes- 
ties, but his opinion once formed never changed. 
The King never again employed the new Duke In 
any official capacity, and this omission was always 
bitterly resented. 

As a result of many years of reflection, Made- 



' Sevigne, January 6, 1689. 

* Letter of M. d' Amfreville, general-officer of the marine, to Seignelay, 
in the Histoire de Louvois, by Camille Rousset. 
^ Saint-Simon, Ecrits ine'dits. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 365 

moiselle at length arrived at the conviction, an ac- 
cepted commonplace, that happiness is not for 
the prominent upon this earth. Without actually- 
compensating her for her troubles, this discovery- 
brought a certain consolation. She had, at this 
period, as neighbour in Normandy, a young and 
charming woman called the Comtesse de Bayard, 
who became in the following century the godmother 
of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, and who furnished 
her godson with material ^ afterwards woven into 
tales made charming by his delicately sentimental 
language. One of these tales by Saint-Pierre is 
founded upon the romance of the Grande Madem- 
oiselle. Mme. de Bayard liked to recall how, in 
their lonely walks, the Princess would linger to 
make the villagers relate the tales of their loves 
and marriages ; how her eyes would fill with tears, 
and how, returning into the Chateau of Eu, she 
would say that she would have been happier in 
a hut. 

To tears succeeded a certain childishness ; the 
execrable Court life had educated her only for 
a puerile old age, and she hastened to Versailles 
from time to time, fearing to miss a tournament 
or some spectacle of this kind. On March 15, 
1693, she was seized at Paris with a disease of the 
bladder which rapidly increased in severity.^ The 



^ CEuvres completes, of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (Paris, 1830), vol. i. ; 
Essai sur la Vie by Aime-Martin. 

^ Cf. the Gazette for 1693, and the series of the Mercure Galant monthly 
periodical, founded in 1672 by Donneau de Vise. 



366 Louis XIV. and 

Luxembourg was besieged with seekers after 
news ; the fear of losing the Grande Made- 
moiselle had aroused anew her popularity. Mon- 
sieur and Madame, who loved her, came to nurse 
her. Lauzun begged to be admitted, but was re- 
fused. The condition grew rapidly worse, and the 
physicians, not knowing what to do, administered 
five doses of an emetic, the fashionable remedy 
that winter for all diseases, with the result that she 
soon saw the mournful procession of the royal 
family defile around her bed, the sure sign that all 
hope had passed. 

The Princess died on April 15th, at the age of 
sixty-six years, and was buried at Saint-Denis with 
much pomp. In the midst of the ceremony, an urn, 
in which through a curious arrangement the entrails 
were enclosed, " broke with a frightful noise and 
emitted a sudden and intolerable odour." ^ Some 
women fainted, while the rest of those present 
gained the open air by running. " All was soon 
perfumed and decorum was re-established," but this 
occurrence became the jest of Paris. It was fated 
that the Grande Mademoiselle should always arouse 
a little ridicule, even at her interment. 

Lauzun went into deep mourning, and made, on 
the day of the funeral, an offer of marriage, to 
prove that he was really a widower. Having, on 
this occasion, been refused, he married (1695) the 
younger daughter of the Marechal de Lorges and 
became the brother-in-law of Saint-Simon. 

' Saint-Simon, M^inoires, 



La Grande Mademoiselle 367 

Mme. de Lauzun was a child of fourteen,^ to 
whom Lauzun, with his sixty-three years, appeared 
so old that she had accepted him in the expecta- 
tion of being quickly a widow. 

She flattered herself that at the end of "two or 
three years at most " ^ she would find herself inde- 
pendent, rich, and, above all, a duchess, and this 
idea captivated her. But Lauzun could never be 
counted upon. His wife was obliged to endure him 
for nearly thirty years, passed in suffering torments 
from morning till night from the loving husband. 
The King had said to the Marechal de Lorges, in 
learning of the marriage of his youngest daughter : 
" You are bold to take Lauzun into your family ; I 
trust that you may not repent it." Repentance 
was prompt and bitter. Mademoiselle was right, 
it was impossible to live with Lauzun. It was 
through miracles of patience that his new wife bore 
to the end, and miracles should never be exacted in 
wedded life. The mean little calculation at the be- 
ginning had been amply expiated by the time that 
Mme. de Lauzun finally became a widow. Even 
to the end, Lauzun had remained one of the 
ornaments and curiosities of the Court of France, 
noted for his grand manner, the eccentricities of his 
habits, the splendour of his habitation, and for the 
indescribable elegance and ease of conversation 
and bearing, which at that time was not to be ac- 
quired at Versailles. 

■ Saint-Simon says fifteen. He is mistaken ; the act of marriage says 
fourteen. ^ Memoires, Saint-Simon. 



368 Louis XIV. and 

At ninety he himself drove, and sometimes with 
fiery animals. One day, when he was training a 
fresh colt in the Bois de Boulogne, the King, Louis 
XIV., passed. Lauzun executed before him a 
" hundred capers " and filled the spectators with 
admiration, by his " address, his strength, and his 
grace." ^ He still often enjoyed "pretty" mo- 
ments. But there was a reverse side to the medal : 
the malignant dwarf " frightened all who approached 
him with his wicked wit and his hateful tricks." 
From afar, Lauzun is very amusing under this 
aspect ; he excelled in buffoonery. In extreme 
age, he suffered from a malady which almost killed 
him. One day, when he was very 111, he perceived 
reflected in a mirror the forms of two of his heirs 
who entered the chamber on tiptoe, fancying them- 
selves concealed behind the curtains, to ascertain 
with their own eyes how long they were to be forced 
to wait. Lauzun feigned to perceive nothing and 
began to pray In a loud voice as one who believes 
himself alone. He demanded pardon of God for 
his past life, and lamented that his time for re- 
pentance was so short. He exclaimed that there 
was only a single way to secure his safety, which 
was to devote the wealth which God had given 
him to paying for his sins, and this he engaged to do 
with all his heart. He promised to leave to the 
hospital all that he possessed, without abstracting a 
single penny. He made this declaration with so 
much fervour and with so penetrating an accent 

' Saint-Simon, Memoires. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 369 

that his heirs fled away in despair, to relate the 
misfortune to Mme. de Lauzun. This scene prop- 
erly terminates the career of this extraordinary 
personage, unscrupulous and malignant to the last. 
Lauzun died in 1723, at over ninety years of age. 

Mademoiselle was the last to disappear of the 
grand figures belonging to the time of the Fronde. 
Retz, Conde, Turenne, La Rochefoucauld, Mme. 
de Chevreuse, Mme. de Longueville, had departed 
before her. 

The only one of the ancient rebels which could 
not perish, the Hotel de Ville of Paris, had been 
suppressed from history by royal ordinance for the 
period corresponding to the Fronde. The ac- 
counts of the prosecutions of the Council recorded 
the revolutionary sentiments which prevailed at 
the capital during the civil war. The King ordered 
all the registers -^ to be destroyed, and the destruc- 
tion included every record relating to public affairs 
for the years 1646- 165 3. 

It may be said without too much calumniating 
the heart of Louis XIV. that the death of his 
cousin afforded a certain relief. She was too lively 
a reminder of the execrable period which he did 
his best to banish from his own memory as well 
as from that of the public. Saint-Simon, newly 
arrived a the Court at the date of the death of 



' The royal ordinance is dated July 7, 1668. Louis XIV. was ever igno- 
rant of the fact that the councillors of the Hotel de Ville had passed nights 
in copying what was to be burned, so that the documents supposed to be 
destroyed still exist. 
24 



Z70 Louis XIV. and 

Mademoiselle, had time to convince himself that 
she was in the eyes of the King always the un- 
pardoned and unpardonable heroine of the com- 
bat of the Porte Saint-Antoine. " I heard him 
reproach his cousin once at supper, joking it is 
true, but a little roughly, for having turned the 
cannon of the Bastile upon his troops." 

The royal rancour extended to the city of Paris, 
eternal cradle of French revolutions. Not being 
able to suppress the capital, Louis XIV. banished 
himself from its gates. On May 6, 1682, unfortu- 
nate date for the French monarchy, the Court 
installed itself definitely at Versailles, and hence- 
forth left this place only for sojourns at the various 
country seats, as Fontainbleau and Marly. Paris 
was abandoned, left to do penance. Not only did 
Louis XIV. desert this city as a place of resi- 
dence, but he visited It rarely. It was remarked 
that he often made long detours rather than to 
pass through Paris. The nobility and ministers fol- 
lowed the King to Versailles. Royalty and the 
capital turned their backs on each other. 

Another important event Influenced the Ideas of 
Court decorum and propriety. The Queen Marle- 
Therese dying In 1683 (July 30), Louis XIV. In 
the course of the winter following formally married 
Mme. de Malntenon. The physiognomy of the 
Court, what Salnt-SImon would have called the 
bark (Jcorce), entirely changed Its character. At 
the moment of ending this long study It Is, then, a 
different world to which adieu must be said from 



La Grande Mademoiselle 371 

the one which was found at the beginning, and the 
transformation did not end with the " bark." The 
principal cause of the change, the establishment 
of absolute monarchy, had acted violently upon 
France in shaking the nation to its depths, as do 
all changes not developing from national tradition. 

Absolute monarchy was not a French tradition. 
It was an importation from Spain. Anne of Austria, 
who did not understand any other regime, had edu- 
cated her son to accept her ideas and habits of 
thought, and the substitution of king for minister 
was, at the death of Mazarin, accomplished without 
shock. It was, however, a real coup d'etat. 

Before Louis XIV. the royal power, without being 
submitted to precise limitations, from time to time 
hurled itself against certain rights, themselves often 
loosely defined. There existed privileges of the 
Parliament, others of the State, together with those 
•of the nobles, and others belonging to bodies and 
individuals, which when united left the King of 
France in a situation resembling that In which 
Gulliver found himself, when the Lillputians bound 
him with hundreds of minute threads. Each single 
thread was of no consequence ; through the com- 
pression of all together every movement was 
paralysed. Louis XIV. resolutely broke the nu- 
merous threads which had trammelled the power 
of his predecessors. He freed himself in suppress- 
inof the ancient liberties of France. No student 
of history can be Ignorant of the material results, 
so splendid at first, so disastrous In the end ; but 



372 Louis XIV. and 

certain moral consequences of his government have 
been perhaps less clearly remarked. 

The French aristocracy ceased from the second 
generation to be a nursery for men of action. This 
was the result desired from the policy of keeping it 
chained to the steps of the throne. The end had 
been attained at the date of the King's death. 
Saint-Simon, who cannot be suspected of hostility 
towards the nobility, certifies to this. When the 
Duke arrived at power under the Regent, his brain 
swarming with projects for replacing the aristocrats 
in positions of importance, and when he sought 
great names with which to fill great posts, he real- 
ised that he was too late. The "nursery" was 
empty. The difficulty, say the Memoires 

lay in the ignorance, the frivolity, and the lack of appli- 
cation of a nobility which had been accustomed to lives of 
frivolity and uselessness ; a nobility that was good for nothing 
but to let itself be killed, and that reached the battlefield 
itself only through the force of heredity. For the remain- 
der of the time, it was content to stagnate in an existence 
without a purpose. It had delivered itself over to idleness 
and felt keen disgust for all education, excepting that relating 
to military matters. The result was a general incapacity and 
unfitness for affairs. 

It is proper to render to Caesar what belongs to 
Caesar. The effacement of the French aristocracy 
is not to be laid at the door of the great Revolu- 
tion, which acted only upon an accomplished fact ; 
it was the personal work of Louis XIV. 

The higher classes also, contrary to the generally 



La Grande Mademoiselle 373 

received opinion, suffered from a serious moral 
abasement. This fact is the more striking, as 
at no other period has France possessed so many 
elements for giving to life decorum and dignity. 
Through a deplorable misfortune, social groups 
which ought, through their solid principles, to have 
served as the support of public morality had in- 
curred, one after the other, the serious displeasure 
of royalty. Among the Catholics, the disciples of 
Berulle and of Vincent de Paul had conipromised 
themselves in the affair of the Compagnie du Saint 
Sacrement. No government worthy of the name 
can suffer itself to be led by a secret society, what- 
ever the purpose or character of such society may 
be. The Jansenists had shared with the reformers 
in the discontent that the least expression of a de- 
sire for independence, no matter in what domain, 
inspired in Louis XIV. 

His distrust even reached the interior life of his 
subjects. Every one, under penalty of being con- 
sidered a rebel, must feel and think like the King. 
This was with Louis a fixed idea, and during his 
reign gave a peculiar character to the religious per- 
secutions. Jansenists and Protestants were pursued 
much oftener as enemies of the King than as ene- 
mies of God. 

The hostility of the Prince to the three principal 
seats of the French conscience, and the destruction of 
two of these, left the field clear for the licentiousness 
which marked the end of the reig^n. Excessive dis- 
sipation is always supposed to belong particularly 



374 Louis XIV. and 

to the time of the Regency, but the abscess had ex- 
isted for a long time before the death of Louis 
XIV. caused it to break. A letter as early as 1680 
states, " Our fathers were not more chaste than we 
are ; but . . . now the vices are decorated 
and refined." ^ The evil had made rapid progress 
under the mantle of hypocrisy, which covered the 
Court of France from the time of the rule of Mme. 
de Maintenon. This last well perceived the danger 
and groaned over it to no purpose. Strangers were 
struck with the conditions. " All is more con- 
centrated," wrote one of them in 1690, " more re- 
served, more restrained, than the peculiar genius of 
the nation can bear."^ 

The real misfortune was that Louis, who had 
been brought up and matured in an entirely formal 
religion, had permitted himself to be imposed upon 
by scoffers, who came disguised as believers, in 
order to make their court. The King, who had 
permitted the representation of Tartuffe^ had not 
sufficiently meditated upon its import. 

A final misdeed, and not the least for which the 
absolute regime is responsible, was the launching of 
the nation in pursuit of one of the most dangerous 
of political chimeras, that of the need of spiritual 
unity. Louis XIV. revoked the Edict of Nantes 
in the name of the fetich that a good Frenchman 
must be of his King's faith. A century later, the 

' From La Riviere to Bussy-Rabutin. 

'^Relation de la Cour de France, by Ezechiel Spanheim, envoy extraordi- 
nary from Brandenbourg. 



La Grande Mademoiselle 375 

Terror cut off heads in the name of a unity of 
opinion, because a Frenchman ought to be virtuous 
in the fashion of Rousseau and of Robespierre. 
The reader may continue for himself the series, and 
count the acts of oppression committed in the nine- 
teenth century, while even the twentieth century, 
young as it still is, presents examples of the at- 
tempt to enforce upon the nation a uniformity of 
thought which, if once attained, would signify in- 
tellectual death. For in politics, as in religion, as 
in art, in literature, in all, diversity is life. 

It is through this capital error that the reign of 
Louis XIV., so glorious in many respects, was the 
precursor of the great Revolution and really made 
its coming inevitable. The Jacobins are in some 
measure the heirs of the great King. Fundament- 
ally, the mania for spiritual and moral unity is 
simply, under a less odious name, the horror of 
liberty ; a sentiment old as the world, but which in 
the earlier portion of the seventeenth century had 
been far from dominant. The word "liberty" 
occurs again and again in the writings of many 
people of that period, theorists, jurists, and great 
nobles, at every point in which they touch politics. 
The expression contained for them nothing revo- 
lutionary. What they were demanding was rather 
a return to past methods, and, above all, it did not 
enter their thoughts to associate with liberty the 
word " equality." It is the eighteenth century, 
more philosophical, if perhaps less reasonable, that 
first conceived the idea of uniting two really 



37^ Louis XIV. and 

incompatible things, without perceiving that one 
of the two was destined to annihilate the other. 

If absolute royalty had remained at Paris, it 
would have clearly realised the point at which the 
nation no longer was in sympathy with its rule. At 
Versailles it saw nothing ; it shut itself up in its 
own tomb. The divorce was consummated be- 
tween the Court and the Capital, one contenting 
itself with being figurative and ornamental, the 
other actively controlling opinions, since royalty 
had renounced the office of directing the public 
mind and thoug^hts. 

It will be recollected that the role of universal 
arbitrator was played by the "young Court," the 
youthful King at its head, at the time in which 
there was daily contact with Paris, and when the 
Court was always in the advance in ideas as in fash- 
ions. The residence at Versailles ended the possi- 
bility of these times ever returning ; there was no 
longer any bond between the King of France and 
the merchant of the rue St. Denis. In consequence, 
Paris employed itself in the eighteenth century in 
the evolution of minds. The Court had decided 
upon the success of the plays of Moliere, the 
Parisian parquet criticised those of Beaumarchais. 

If it be considered that the interior politics of 
Louis XIV. were constantly dominated by a horror 
of the Fronde, it will be recognised that this abor- 
tive revolution brought in its train consequences 
almost as grave as if it had been successful. This 
is the reason it has seemed permissible to make the 



La Grande Mademoiselle 377 

history of the ideas and sentiments existing during 
the wars of the Fronde and the succeeding forty- 
years circle around the incidents in the life of the 
Grande Mademoiselle. She was a truly representa- 
tive figure of this generation, and on this account 
will always merit the attention of historians, and 
by a double claim, through the interest in her proud 
conception of life, and through the importance of 
the evil for which she was partly responsible and 
by the results of which she was herself over- 
whelmed. No one possessed in a higher degree 
than this Princess the great qualities belonging to 
her epoch, and no one preserved them so intact 
without thought of the danger after the retaining 
of such opinions had become a cause of disgrace. 

Neither Retz nor the great Conde showed signs 
in their old age of their characteristics displayed 
under the Fronde ; both had become calmed. The 
Grande Mademoiselle remained always the Grande 
Mademoiselle, and this steadfastness, while some- 
times a difficulty, was more often her real title to 
glory. 



INDEX 



Absolute monarchy, establish- 
ment of, in France, 7, 118, 
142; a Spanish importation, 
371 

Adickes, Erich, Kant als Mensch 
by, 220 

Aime-Martin, Essai sur la Vie, 

by, 365 

Aix, Court at, 100-102 

Aix-la-Chapelle, treaty of, 258 

Albret, Marechal d', 282 

Alceste (LuUi), 218 

Alenfon, Elisabeth, Mile, d', 
daughter of Monsieur, 77, 133, 
186; marriage of, 235, 294 

AUier, Raoul, La Cabale des 
Devots, by, 83, 85, 157, 181, 
198 

AUuye, Marquise d', 344 

Alphonse VI., King of Portugal, 
142-145, 160, 185 

Amadis, 216 

Amants Magnifiques, Les (Mo- 
liere), 202 

Amaryllis, 18 

A tnhassadeur de la Fuente au roi 
d'Espagne, L', 189 

Aihboise, Chateau of, 27, 44, 354 

Amfreville, M. d', 364 

Amiens, 263 

"Amours of Hercules," 120 

Andilly, Arnauld, d', 79 

Andromaque (Racine), 225, 228 

Angelique, Mother, 88, 92 

Angennes, Julie d', 264 

Anjou, Philippe, Due d' (the 
little Monsieur) , proposed 
marriage of, with Madem- 
oiselle, 59, 73, 272-278; char- 
acter of, 74, 102, 105, 152, 
196, 261, 262, 271, 272; be- 
comes Due d'Orleans, 102; 



marries Henrietta of Eng- 
land, 136, 151, 152; marries 
Princess Palatine, 156, 315; 
daughters of, 277; opposed 
to mesalliance of Mile., 285 

Anjou, son of Louis XIV., 285 

Anne of Austria, regency of, i; 
education of her sons, 31, 63- 
65, 74, 371; relations of, with 
Mazarin, 62, 63, 82, 112, 304; 
reception of Mademoiselle, 
57-59, and lack of Court eti- 
quette, 76-79, 82; member 
of Compagnie du Saint-Sacre- 
ment, 87, 103, 148, 158, 198; 
prevents marriage of Louis 
and Marie Mancini, 82, 97; 
receives Conde, 100; inter- 
view of, with Philip IV., 108- 
iio; favours absolute mon- 
archy, 118, 146, 371; be- 
friends Marie-Therese, 118, 
149; detests Madame, 122; 
reproaches Louis, 153, 170; 
influence of, 153, 159, 192, 
194, 195, 208; illness and 
death of, 194-197; effect of 
death of, 195, 197, 200, 201, 
206, 208, 209 

Anquetil, Louis XIV., sa Cour 
et le Regent, by, 349 

Archives de la Bastille (Ravais- 
son), 189, 201, 209, 282, 293, 
312, 343, 344 

Archives de Chantilly, 117, 174, 
175, 186 

Archives of Eu. See Eu 

Ariane (Monteverde), 214 

Armagnac, Louis de Lorraine, 
Comte d', 237 

Arras, seige of, 23, 161 

Artamene, ou le Grand Cyrus 
(Scudery), 11 

Astrate, 81 



379 



38o 



Index 



Astree, V (d'Urfe), ii, 14, 80 

Aubineau, Leon, 67 

Aumale, Due d', 46 

Aumale, Mile, d', Memoires of, 

291 
Auteuil, Comte d', 47 
Ay en, Comte d' (Due de No- 

ailles), 270 



B 



Bachaumont, 32 

Bajazet (Raeine), 8, 225 

Ballet des Arts, 172 

Bartelemy, Eduard de (Hon- 
orat de Bueil, Marquis de 
Racan), editor La Galerie des 
Portraits, etc., 122, 130 

Bastile, the, 247, 370 

Bastille, Archives de la. See 
Archives 

Baviere, Anne de. See Pala- 
tine 

Baviere, Elisabeth Charlotte 
de (Madame). See Palatine 

Baviere, Marie Anne Christine 
de, 347 

Bayard, Comtesse de, 365 

Baziniere, Sieur de la, 76 

Beaufort, Due de, 185 

Belief onte. Marshal of, 264 

Bernieres, M. de, 87, 88, 91, 92; 
Relations of, 87-90 

Berri, government of, 307 

Berulle, 373 

Bethleem, Bishop of, 191 

Bethune, Comte de, 47 

Bethune, Mme. de, 266 

Beuvron, Charles d'Harcourt, 
Comte de, 275 

Beziers, M. de, 147 

Bezon, M. de, 343 

Bidassoa, river, 105, 110 

Bielle, Sieur de, 83 

Blois, forced sojourn of Mon- 
sieur at, 25-35, 39-41, 49-53. 
97, 98, 134; court at, 97 

Blois, Mile, de, marriage of, 337 

Bocquet, Mile. (Agelaste), 124 

Boileau, 217, 222, 223 

Bois-le-Vi comte, Chateau of, 50 

Bologna, theatres in, 215 

Bordeaux, Court at, 98, 99, 132 



Bossuet, Court preacher, 140, 
142, 200; funeral oration of, 
152; at death-bed of Ma- 
dame, 272, 273 

Boucherat, 344 

Bougy, Lady de, 211 

Bouillon, Due de, 77 

Bouillon, Duchesse de, 344 

Bouligneux, M. de, 264 

Boult, 89 

Bourbon, Baths of, 329, 354 

Bourbon, Henri de. See Mont- 
pensier 

Bourbon, House of, 42, 47 

Bourbon, Marie de, 42 

Bourdaloue, Court preacher, 200 

Bourgogne, Hotel de, 227 

Bourgogne, province of, 83, 94 

Boursault, 225 

Boyer, Abbe, tragedies of, 226 

Brandenbourg, 374 

Brie, province of, 83, 84 

Brienne, Father, 190 

Broglie, Emmanuel de, Saint 
Vincent de Paul, by, 82, 91 

BrunetiSre, M. F., Les Epoques 
du The&tre jrangais; Les 
Etudes critiques sur I'His- 
toire de la Litterature fran- 
gaise, by, 223 

Bussy-Rabutin, Memoires of, 
cited, 32, 55, 61, 147, 148, 
160, 248, 337, 342, 343, 34s; 
letters to, 272, 273, 302, 305, 
342, 374; Correspondance de, 
303. 364 



Cahale des Devots, La (Allier), 
83, 85, 88, 148, 157, 181, 198, 

199 , ^ 

Cahiers de Mile, d' Aumale, Les, 

230, 341 
Cambert, Pomone, opera by, 216 
Carignan, Princesse de. 291 
Carrosse Amarante, 223 
Cart Wright, Julia, Madame, 

Memoirs of Henrietta, Duchesse 

of Orleans, by, 136 
Cassandre (La Calpren^de), 11 
Cato, Mme. de Montespan's 

maid, 344, 346 



Index 



381 



Caylus, Mme. de, Souvenirs et 
Correspondance of, 300; Sou- 
venirs de, 150, 347 

Chaillou des Barres, Baron, Les 
ChcLteavix d' Ancy-le-France, de 
Saint-Fargeau, etc., by, 6 

Chalais, 25 

Chalon-sur-Saone, 354 

Chambord, 26, 33 

Chambre ardente, established by 
Louis, 204, 343, 344; suppres- 
sion of, 347 

Champagne, province of, 55, 56, 

87. 92, 334 
Champigny lawsuit, 49, 50, 125 
Chantelauze, Saint Vincent de 

Paul et les Gondi, by, 82, 112 
Chantilly, see Archives of 
Chapelle, 32 
Charenton, 289 
Charles II. (of England), 136 
Charles II. (of Spain), marriage 

of, 277 
Chdteaux d' Ancy-le-France, de 

Saint-Fargeau, etc., Les 

(Chaillou des Barres), 6 
Chdtelet, the, 211 
Chatellerault, duchy of, 49 
Chatillon, Duchesse de, 78, 80, 

126 
Chatrier, Mme. de, 335 
Chauvelin, M. de, 347 
Cheruel, editor, 3, 48, 297 
Chevreuse, Mme. de, 369 
Choisy, Mile. 's mansion at, 357, 

359 

Choisy, Frangois-Timoleon, Ab- 
be de, Memoires of, 74, 133, 
134, 138. 281, 289, 291, 310, 
340 

Choisy, Mme. de, 13 

Chouquet, Hi stair e de la Mu- 
sique dramatique en France, 
by, 213 

Cinq-Mars, 25 

Clagny, Chateau of, 235 

Clairvoyants, 201-207 

Clamecy, 191 

Clement, 'P.,Mme. de Montespan 
et Louis XIV., by, 282 

Cleopdtre (La Calprenede), 11 

Colbert, protected by Madem- 
oiselle's escort, 56; reorgan- 



ises finances, 141, 171, 177; 
letters to, 183, 348; enemy of 
Compagnie du Saint Sacre- 
ment, 198; opposes Louvois, 
287; protests against King's 
extravagance, 332-337; medi- 
ation of, 345, 352 

Coligny, Admiral de, 78 

Comedie Frangaise, 109 

Conde, Prince de (the Great), 3, 
56, 117, 256, 377; alliance of, 
with Mademoiselle, 3, 16, 17, 
33. 45. 56, 369; defeat of, 20, 
23, 54; letters of, 38-40, 46, 
147, 174, 186; rupture of , with 
Mile., 463 47, 52; cruelty of 
army of, 55, 83; pardoned, 
100, loi, 113; son of, 117; ap- 
preciation of Racine, 229; 
opposes Mlle.'s marriage, 285, 
291, 292, 296 

Conde, Princesse de, 16, 17, 46 

Conti, Louis Armand, Prince de, 
marriage of, 48, 337 

Corneille, 80, 81, 129, 223-226, 
228, 240, 241 

Correspondance de Bussy-Rahu- 
tin, 303 

Correspondance de Pomponne, 
La, 297 

Correspondant, the, 112 

Cotin, Abbe, CEuvres galantes en 
vers et en prose, hy, 220, 223,226 

Coulanges, 287 

Country Pleasures, operetta, 19 

Court of France, Mademoiselle 
returns to, 2, 57-59, 72; in 
disgrace with, 16, 19, 45, 55; 
returns to Paris, 19-21, 65, 
no, 281 ; Monsieur under pro- 
tection of, 39, 40, 48; journeys 
of, 53, 68, 94-104, 108, no, 
132, 257, 258, 307; manners 
and morals of, 76-79, 81, 82, 
123-125, 128-131, 338; eti- 
quette of, 78, 104-in, 233; 
occupations of, 103, 230—232; 
the young, 148, 174, 224, 229, 
376; brilliancy of, 174, 258- 
260, 315; size of, 174, 175, 
258; at Versailles, 174, 176- 
182, 333, 365, 370, 376; at 
Fontainebleau, 182, 184; lit- 



382 



Index 



Court of France — Continued 
erary tastes of, 224, 227, 229, 
376; at Saint-Germain, 269, 
353 > 354! changed character 
of, 370. 371. 374 

Court of Saint-Fargeau, 6-10, 
17-20, 129-131, 135 

Cousin, La Societe frangaise au 
XV Heme siecle, by, 124 

Creation de Versailles, la (de 
Nolhac), 176 

Cregny, Due de, 282 

Crequi, 297 

Crisse, Mme. de, original of 
Countess de Pimbesche, 191 

Crosne, 89 

Crussol, Emmanuel II., de. See 
Uzes 

D 

Dafne, musical tragedy, 214 
Dames, les (the "ladies"), 315, 

334-336 
Dauphin, the Grand, 154, 155, 

179; marriage of, 347; death 

of, 219 
De Chapelain, 226 
Declaration par le Memi du 

Contte d'Eu, 163 
Delamare, Philibert, Melanges, 

by, 285, 286, 290, 294, 301 
Delaure, Histoire de Paris, by, 

21 
De La Valliere a Montespan 

(Lemoine and Lichtenberger) , 

17s, 229, 263, 335 
Delort, J., Histoire de la Deten- 
tion des Philosophes, by, 312 
Deltour, F., Les Ennemis de Ra- 
cine, by, 223, 226 
Derby, Lady, 137 
Deux Ch^vres (La Fontaine) , Les, 

107 
Devineresses, Les (La Fontaine) , 

203 
Devolution, war of the, 154, 257 
Diafoirus, Thomas, 109 
Dictionnaire des Precieuses, Le 

(Somaize), 13 
Diderot, 172 
Dijon, Court at, 94, 95 
Divine Right of Kings, doctrine 

of. 139-142 



Dombes, principality of, 49, 95; 
given to Lauzun, 288; de- 
manded for Due du Maine, 352 

Dreyss, Charles, editor of Me- 
moires of Louis XIV., 58, 69, 
141, 278 

Dubois, Les Fragments des Me- 
moires inedits, by, 67 

Dubuisson (Lesage). See Le- 
sage 

Dubuisson - Aubenay, Journal 
des Guerre s civiles, by, 92 

Dunkerque, 173, 307 

Dupre, Mile., 124 



E 



Ecole des Femmes (Moli^re), 131, 
^227 

Ecrits inedits (Saint-Simon), 3 5 4, 
^359, 363, 364 
Education politique de Louis 

XIV., L' (Lacour-Gayet) 64 
Elbeuf, M. d', 178 
Elisabeth de France, mother of 

Marie-Ther^se, 149 
Embrun, Archbishop of, 38, 39 

190 
Enghien, Due d', 117; marriage 

of, 174 
Ennemis de Racine, Les (Del- 

^ tour), 223, 226 
Epoques du ThSdtre jrangais, 

Les (Brunetiere), 223 
Essai sur la Vie (Aime-Martin) , 

365 
Estrees, Mareehal d', 76 

Etampes, 54 

Etrechy, 89 

Etudes critiques sur r Histoire de 
la Litterature frangaise, Les 
(Brunetiere), 223 

Eu, Chateau d', 147, 170; Ar- 
chives of, 162, 163, 167-169; 
Mademoiselle at, 169, 182, 
183, 360-363, 365 

Eu, Comte d', property of the 
Guise, 161; sale of, 161-167; 
revenue from, 162-166; given 
to Lauzun, 288; given to Due 
du Maine, 352, 353 

Eugenie, ou la force du destin, 14 



Index 



383 



Fabert, 84 

Famine of 1659-1662, 93 
Feillet, La misere au temps de la 
Fronde et Saint Vincent de 
Paul, by, 82, 84 
Ferte, Marechale de la, 344 
Feuquieres, Marquis de, 344 
Fiesque, Comtesse de, 16, 45, 

129, 360 
Fille, la, fable of (La Fontaine), 

190-191 
Flanders, Court in, 257, 307 
Fontainebleau, Court at, 174, 

182-188, 308 
Fontanges, Mile, de, 339, 340 
Fontarabia, marriage of Louis 

XIV. at, 104, 105, no 
Forges, Baths of, 10, 53, 146 
Foucquet, Abbe, 25, 78; pun- 
ishment of, 141; imprison- 
ment of, 311-313. 326, 330; 
death of, 326, 329 
Fragments des Mem,oires ined- 

its, Les (Dubois), 67 
France, failure of Fronde impor- 
tant to, I ; fondness for sport 
in, 7 ; results of absolute mon- 
archy in, 7 , 371, 372; wars of 
with Spain, 16, 20, 55, 59, 145, 
361 ; famine and misery in, 54, 
55. 82-94, 331, 334; advan- 
tages to, from peace of the 
Pyrenees, 99 ; conversation 
the delight of intelligent, 123, 
135; reforms of Louis and 
Colbert in, 141, 142, 171; in- 
crease of industry and com- 
merce, 142; "rights" in, 168; 
growing power and influence 
of, 171; influence of women 
in, 193, 194; belief in astrol- 
ogy and sorcery, 201-212; in- 
troduction of dramatic music 
into, 213-217; war of, with 
Holland, 235, 318, 330; con- 
sternation in, over projected 
marriage of Mademoiselle, 
283, 284, 286, 290, 292, 294, 
295, 297; mistress of the 
world, 330, 331; moral deteri- 
oration of, 338, 372-374 
France, Court of. See Court 



Franche-Comte, 330 

Francis L, 27 

Fronde, the, failtire of, i, 47; 
effect of, I, 58, 65, 68, 376; 
leaders of, 2, 11, 81, 369, 
Mademoiselle the heroine of, 
3. 53. 59, 72, 370; wars of, 16, 
20, 36, 54, 82-85, 213, 221, 
232, 377; abuses giving rise 
to, 21, 22 

Frondeurs, the, 2, 47, 58, 77, 369 

Frontenac, Mme. de, 14, 15, 45 



G 



Galerie des Portraits de Mile, de 
Montpensier, la, 122, 125-127, 
129-131, 135 

Gaston, Due d' Orleans. See 
Orleans 

Gazette de Hollande, 307 

Gazette of Loret, 18, 20, 30, 171- 
174, 178, 179, 227, 272, 365 

Gazette de R.enaudot, 269 

Geoflfroy, editor of Letters of 
Mm-e. de Maintenon, 64 

Germany, peace of the Pyrenees 
unfavourable to, 99; humili- 
ated by Louis XIV., 171, 

331 
Giustiniani, Venetian Ambassa- 
dor, 142 
Gomberville, works of, 1 1 
Gonzague, Anne de. See Pala- 
tine 
Gonzague, Marie de. See Po- 
land 
Goulas, Nicolas, Mem.oires of, 

28, 34 
Gramont, Catherine de, 211 
Gramont, Chevalier de, 35 
Gramont, Marechal de, 149, 211 
Grand Cyrus, Le (Scudery), 11, 

124 
Grignan, Mme. de, 11 
Guibourg, Abbe, 345, 348 
Guiche, Comte de, 71, 148, 149 
Guilloire, 286, 307 
Guise, Charles de Lorraine, Due 

de, 42 
Guise, Chevalier de, 221 
Guise, Due de, 177, 178; mar- 
ried Mile, d' Orleans, 294, 295 



384 



Index 



Guise, Duchesse de (grand- 
mother of Mademoiselle), 42, 

SI 
Guise, family of, 161. See also 

Lorraine 
Guise, Mile, de, marriage of, 161 
Guitry, Marquis de, 282, 297 



H 



Hachette, 202 

Hanotaux, M. G., 150, 230, 341 

Haro, Don Luis de, 107, 108 

Haussonville, Comte d', 150, 
219, 291 

Heine, Heinrich, 224, 228 

Henrietta of England (Madame) 
wife of Philippe, Due d' Or- 
leans, 136, 151-153, 191; re- 
lations of, with Louis XIV., 
194, 228; death of, 233, 270- 
273. 275; daughters of, 277 

Henry IIL, 67 

Henry IV., 149, 283 

Henry, Victor, La Magie dans 
rinde antique, by, 210 

Herse, Presidente de, 88, 92 

Histoire amoureuse des Gaules 
L',_297 

Histoire du Chdteau de Blois, L' , 
(La Saussaye), 26 

Histoire de France (Porchat and 
Miot, trs.), 99 

Histoire de France (von Ranke), 

Histoire de Louvois (Rousset), 

364 
Histoire de Madame Henriette 

d' Angleterre (La Fayette), 

151.-T53, 194, 271 
Histoire de Mile, et du Comte de 

Losun, 257 
Histoire de la Mtisique drama- 

tique en France (Chouquet), 

213 
Histoire de I'OpSra en Europe 

(RoUand), 213 
Histoire de Paris, L' (Delaure), 

21 
Histoire de la Princesse de Paph- 

lagonie (Mademoiselle), 132 
Histoires de la Detention des Plii- 

losophes (Delort), 312 



Hoguete, Fortin de la, 140 
Holland, war between France 

and, 235, 318, 330 
Honsett, M. du, 305 
Hopital, Marechal de 1', 75 
Hopital, Mme. de 1', 76 
Hospitals, establishment of, 87 
Hotel Rambouillet, 14, 124 
Hotel de Ville, the, 369 
Huet, Dr., Memoir es of, 10, 127, 

129 

I 

Image du Souverain, L', 140 

Infortunes d'une petite-fille 
d' Henri IV., Les (Rodoca- 
nachi), 138 

Inventaire general du Comte 
d'Eu, 163 

Ipihgenie (Racine), 227 

Isarn, M., 327-329 

Isle des Faisans {Isle de la Con- 
ference), I 06-1 10 

Isle Saint-Louis, 206 

Itvirrieta, Don Miguel de, 282 



Jacobins, the, 375 

Jansenism, 85 

Jansenists, 87, 88, 129, 373 

Jesuits, the, 79, 80, 83 

Jetme Alcidiane, La (Gomber- 
ville), II 

Joinville, Prince de. See Lor- 
raine 

Joly, Mme., 90 

Jourdain, Mme., 115 

Journal des Gtierres civiles (Du- 
buisson-Aubenay) , 92 

Journal d' Olivier Lefbvre d'Or- 
messon, 150, 174, 177, 186, 
194, i97> 285, 287, 301, 332, 

335 , , , . 

Journal de Voyage de deux jeunes 

Hollandais d Paris, 72, 73, 75, 

76 
Joyeuse, Due de. See Lorraine 
Joyeuse, Henriette Catherine, 

Duchesse de. See Montpen- 

sier 
Jusserand, J. J., Les sports et 

ieux d'exercice dans Vancienne 

France, by 7 



Index 



385 



K 

Kant, Emanuel, 220 

Kant ah Mensch (Adickes), 220 

Kreutzer Sonata (Tolstoi), 220 



La Bruy^re, 269 

La Calprenede, Cassandre and 
Cleopdtre, by, 11 

Lacour-Gayet, L' Education poli- 
tique de Louis XIV., by, 64, 67 

La Duverger, 211 

La Fare, Marquis de, Memoires 
et Reflexions of, 248, 283, 287, 
290. 302, 310, 339 

La Fayette, Mme. de, 134; His- 
toire de Madame Henriette 
d'Angleterre, 151-153, 194, 
271; Princesse de Clives, by, 
153; Memoires de la Coiir de 
France, 209, 363 

La Fontaine, letters of, 26, 27, 
54; fables of, 107, iii, 109, 
203; appointment of, 191 

Lair, J. Louise de La Valliere, 
by, 180 

Lalanne, Ludovic, 303 

Lamoignon, Mme. de, 88, 92 

Landrecies, 263-265 

Lansac, Mme. de, 67 

La Reynie, Lieut. -General of 
Police, 209, 210, 343-346 

La Riviere, 374 

La Rochefoucauld, 11, 130, 134, 

256, 369 

La Saussaye, L'Histoire du Chd- 
teau de Blois, by, 26 

Lauzun, Antonin Nompar de 
Caumont, Marquis de Puy- 
guilhem, Comte de, 238; ca- 
reer of, 243-247; intrigues of , 
245,246,249-251; relations of 
with Mme. de Montespan, 
245, 246, 282, 287, 290, 309; 
description of. 243, 244, 248, 
262, 324, 356; in the Bastile, 
247; character of, 248-251, 

269, 287, 356-359, 367-369; 
projected marriage of Madem- 
oiselle with, 251-257, 267- 

270, 276, 279-281, 284, 293; 

25 



tacit consent of Louis to 
marriage, 281-283; generous 
gifts of Mademoiselle to, 288, 
289, 355; marriage broken off, 
290-297, 317, 326; question of 
secret marriage with Mile., 
304-308, 349; arrest and im- 
prisonment of, 310-324, 350; 
the "caskets" of, 317; at- 
tempted escape of, 325, 326, 
350; communi cates with 
Foucquet, 326; interview of, 
with his family, 327-329; re- 
leased from prison, 329, 349, 
354, 359; forced to renounce 
gifts of Mile., 353, 354; reim- 
prisoned, 354; forbidden to 
return to Court, 354, 355, 360, 
361; saves Queen of England, 
363; Order of the Garter and 
title conferred upon, 364; 
marriage of, 366 ; death of, 369 

Lauzun, Chevalier de, 327 

Lauzun, Mme. de, married life 
of, 366-369 

Laval, Marquise of, 6 

La Valliere, Laurent de La 
Baume Le Blanc, Seigneur de, 

La Valliere, Louise de, youth of, 
134; relations of, with Louis 
XIV., 150, 153-156, 172, 176, 
178, 193; made Duchess, 154; 
position of, officially recog- 
nised, 197, 233, 234, 258, 315, 
334' 336; attacked by Bos- 
suet, 200; successor to, 208- 
210; marriage of daughter, 
337; character of , 339; retires 
to convent, 339 

La Voisin, the poisoner, 207, 
208, 210,212; clients of, 207, 
208, 210-212, 342, 344-346, 

351 

Lemaftre, Jules, 81 

Lemoine, Jean, and Andre Lich- 
tenberger, De La Valliere a 
Montespan, by, 175, 229, 263, 

335 
Le Notre, 176 

Le Pelletier, Claude, 186, 286 
Lesage (Dulauisson), 204; arrest 

and trial of, 210-212, 348 



386 



Index 



Lesdiguieres, Due de, 75, 76 

Lesigny, 46 

Le Tellier, Michel, 25, 94 

Lettres historiques et edifiantes. 
See Maintenon 

Libertins, the, 148, 153, 157, 
159, 182 

Lichtenberger, Andre. See Le- 
moine 

Limay, 89 

Limours, Chateau of, 25 

Lionne, Hugues de, 148 

Lit de Justice, 19, 20 

Livet, 257, 297 

Loing, valley of the, 4, 9, 12 

Loire, the, 28, 29 

Loiseleur, Jules, Problemes his- 
toriques, by, 63 

Longueville, Due de (Count de 
Saint-Paul), 256, 257, 270 

Longueville, Duchesse de, 256, 

369 
Loret, Gazette of, 18, 20, 30, 171- 
174, 178, 179, 227, 258, 272, 

365 
Lorges, Mareehal de, daughter 

of, marries Lauzun, 366-369 
Lorraine, Charles IIL, Due de, 

137 
Lorraine, Chevalier de, 275 
Lorraine, Due de, cruelty of 

army of, 38, 84 
Lorraine, Henri de, 42 
Lorraine, House of, 42, 294 
Lorraine, Louis de, Comte d'Ar- 

magnae, 237 
Lorraine, Louis de. Due de 

Guise, 294, 295 
Lorraine, Louis de. Due de Joy- 

euse, death of, 161, 168 
Lorraine, Louis Joseph de. 

Prince de Joinville, 161, 168 
Lorraine, Marguerite de (Ma- 
dame). See Orleans 
Lorraine, Prince Charles de, 137 
Lorraine, Prince de, 252 
Louis XIIL, 25, 243; death of, 

102 
Louis XIV., returns to Paris, 2, 
19, 24; occupations of Court 
of, 7, 230-232; dictates to 
Parliament, 19, 23; holds Lit 
de Justice, 19, 20; escorts 



Mazarin to Paris, 20; fondness 
of, for f^tes and ballets, 21, 75, 
120, 172, 176, 178-181, 315; 
growing power of, 22-24, 59, 
170, 171; education of, 31, 63- 
68, 371; proposed marriages 
of, 48, 77, 94, 96; permits 
Mademoiselle to return to 
Court, 57-59; effect of Fronde 
upon, 58, 65, 68. 278, 370; 
character of , 68-72, loi; lack 
of etiquette at Court, in youth 
of, 77, 78; infatuation of, for 
Marie Mancini, 77, 97, 193, 
228; cruelty of armies of, 84; 
journeys of, 94, 97-100, 103,, 
104, 199, 257; pardons Conde, 
100, loi; ignorance of, 103,, 
104, 112-116; marriage of, 
with Marie-Therese, 103-111; 
interviews of, with Philip IV., 
106, 107; letters of, 108, 183, 
184, 188, 189; begins to gov- 
ern without minister, 113, 
114; systematic regulation of 
his time, 116, 117; growth of 
absolute monarchy, 118, 119, 
128, 138-142, 371; fondness 
of, for gaming, 133, 333; re- 
forms abuses with Colbert, 
141, 142; proposes marriage 
of Mile, with King of Portu- 
gal, 142-146, 160, 185; ban- 
ishes Mile, for refusing mar- 
riage, 147, 148, 161; Queen's 
lack of influence over, 149- 
151, 154; passionate tempera- 
ment of, 153-155. 170. 193. 
219, 220; relations of, with 
Madame, 153, 194, 228; 
strained relations with his 
mother, 153, 157; relations of, 
with La Valliere, 153-156, 
172, 176, 193, 197; Memoires 
written for Dauphin, 154-156, 
179; opinion of women, 155, 
193, 194; conduct of, disap- 
proved, 157-159; religious 
opinions of, 156, 212, 213, 
374; influence of Mme. de 
Maintenon upon, 156, 193, 
219, 339; acquires Dun- 
kerque, 173; takes up perma- 



Index 



387 



Louis XIV. — Continued 

nent residence at Versailles, 

174, 370; size of Court, 174, 

175, 258; hospitality of, 175- 
177; plans Savoie marriage 
for Mademoiselle, 185-190, 
236; effect of mother's death 
on, 195-197, 199; relations of, 
with Mme. de Montespan, 
193, 209, 210, 212, 229, 333, 
338-342; frames rules of eti- 
quette relating to position of 
mistresses, 197, 233-235, 315, 
334-336; boldness of Court 
preachers, 200, 201; orders 
prosecution of Mariette and 
Lesage, 210-212; lover of 
music, 218-220; sustains Ra- 
cine and Moliere, 224, 227, 
228; death of infant daughter, 
233; with the army, 235, 361; 
Lauzun a favourite of, 243- 
247, 250, 251, 254, 257; dis- 
comforts of travelling in 1670, 
258-267; plans marriage of 
Mile, with Monsieur, 274, 
276-278; tacitly consents to 
marriage of Mademoiselle 
with Lauzun, 282, 283, 286; 
withdraws consent, 290-293, 
295, 296; treatment of Made- 
moiselle, 299-301; Lauzun's 
imprisonment, 312-315, 323; 
-charmed with new sister-in- 
law, 315; brilliancy of reign 
'pf. 33°< 331. 375'. power and 
importance of, 330-332; ex- 
travagance of, 332-339; love 
of martial display, 333-336; 
marriage of Mile, de Blois, 
337; responsible for deteriora- 
tion of manners and morals, 
338-341, 372; finds presump- 
tive proof of guilt of Madame 
de Montespan, 343-347, 349; 
orders destruction of records, 
343, 344, 369; turns to Mme. 
de Maintenon, 339-341; dis- 
misses Mme. de Montespan, 
341, 342; establishes the 
Chambre ardente, 343 ; sup- 
presses the Chambre ardente, 
347; marriage of, with Mme. 



de Maintenon, 305, 370; effect 
of reign of, upon France, 371- 
373; Memoires of, 58, 66, 68- 
70, 114, 141, 142, 154-156, 
179, 193, 278, 355 

Louise de La Vallitre (Lair), 180 

Louvois, letters to, 209, 311, 
325; enemy of Lauzun, 244, 
245, 247, 287, 288; instruc- 
tions of, concerning Lauzun, 
310-313. 318-323, 325; letters 
of, 344, 347; sent to coerce 
Mademoiselle, 352 

Louvre, Palace of the, Mazarin 
returns to, 20; Court at, 65, 
78, 82, III, 112, 122; fete at, 
178 

LuUi, Baptiste, operas of, 216, 
217, 218, 220, 221 

Luxembourg, Due de, 344 

Luxembourg, palace of the. 
Monsieur at, 24; Mademoiselle 
returns to, 72, 76, 121; Ma- 
dame occupies, 102, 121, 191, 
285; salon of Mademoiselle at, 
122, 123, 125, 133-136, 148, 
222, 223, 288, 296, 297, 361 

Luynes, Constalale de, 243 

Lyonne, M. de, 293 

Lyons, Court at, 94, 96, 258 



M 



Madame. See Orleans, Henri- 
etta, and Palatine 

Madame de Montespan et Louis 
XIV. (Clement), 282, 349 

Madam,e, Memoirs of Henrietta, 
Duchess of Orleans (Cart- 
wright), 136 

Madelaine, 50 

Mademoiselle, La Grande. See 
Montpensier 

Magie dans I'Inde antique. La 
(Henry), 210 

Mailly, Chateau of, 263 

Maine, Due du, 351, 352 

Maintenon, Mme. de (Mme. 
Scarron), Letters of (Geoffroy, 
ed.), 63, 64; Souvenirs sur, 
150, 15 ij 230; influence of, 
over Louis XIV., 71, 156, 193, 
219. 339-341. 374; governess 



388 



Index 



Maintenon, Mme. de — Cont'd 
to King's children, 290, 309, 
310; Lettres historiques et edi- 
fiantes, of, 291; King marries, 

3.05. 370 
Mairet, 223 
Malade Imaginaire (Moliere), 

109 
Mancini, Marie, nieceof Mazarin, 

77. 96, 193. 228, 339 
"Mandate," the, 286 
Mansard, Franfois, 26 
Man with the Iron Mask, the, 

304, 329 . 

Marie Antoinette, 23 

Marie Therese, Infanta of Spain, 
marriage of, with Louis XIV., 
103-1 1 1 ; political opinions of, 
118; unhappy m,arried life of, 
149-151, 154, 172; character 
of, 149-151, 196, 252, 260, 
261, 264-266, 271; friendly 
relations of, with Mme. de 
Montespan, 209, 210, 233- 
235; friendship of, for Mme. 
de Maintenon, 341; death of, 

370 

Mariette, priest, 204, 210; arrest 
and trial of, 210-212 

Marigny, La Relation des Diver- 
tissements que le Roi a donnes 
aux Reines, by, 173 

Marly, 336 

Martinozzi, Anne Marie, niece of 
Mazarin, 48 

Mascarille, Marquis de, 76 

Mauny, Marquise de, 13, 131 

Mazarin, Cardinal, power of, 11, 
16,25,38,39, 45,47; triumph- 
al return of, 20; obtains par- 
don for Mademoiselle, 48, 52, 
53, 56; detestation of, 60, 61; 
rapacity of, 60-62, 112; re- 
lations of, with Anne of Aus- 
tria, 62, 63, 304; created 
Cardinal, 63; treatment of 
Louis XIV., 65-67, 69, 70, 74; 
nieces of, 77, 82, 96, 97, 237; 
letter of protest to, 84; signs 
peace of Pyrenees, 99, 107; dif- 
ficulties of, in settling points 
of etiquette relating to King's 
marriage, 105, 106; instruc- 



tions of, to Louis, 112, 113;. 
death of , 113, 116, 141; oppo- 
sition of, to Compagnie du 
Saint Sacrement, 158, 198; in- 
troduces Italian opera into 
France, 215 

Medicis, Catherine de', 67, 113 

Meilleraye, Due de la (Due de 
Mazarin), 77 

Melanges (Delamare), 285 

Memoires. See Aumale, Bussy- 
Rabutin, Choisy, Goulas, Huet, 
La Fare, La Fayette, Mont- 
pensier, Motteville, Saint- 
Simon, Sourches, etc. 

Memoires of Louis XIV. See 
under Louis (editors, Dreyss 
and Petitot). 

Memoires de Montglat, 25, 59, 62 , 
100, 108 

Memoires-Relations du temps, ijg 

Memoires sur la Vie et les Ouvrages 
de Jean Racine (Racine), 227 

Menage, 222, 226 

Mercure Galant, 365 

Mignet, Negociations relatives ala 
succession d'Espagne, by, 143 

Miot. See Porchat. 

Misere au temps de la Fronde et 
Saint Vincent de Paul, La. 
(Feillet), 82, 84 

Mithridate (Racine), 228 

Moliere, returns to Paris; Sir. 
plays of, 109, 124, 131, 132, 
180, 181, 202, 216, 231, 374, 
376; representations of , given 
at Versailles and the Luxem- 
bourg, 178, 180, 181, 221, 222; 
opposition to Racine and, 
223-227; King sustains, 227, 
228 

"Moliere," of the Grands Ecri- 
vains de la France (Hachette), 
176, 179, 202 

Monsieur, See Orleans, Gas- 
ton, Due d'. 

Monsieur, the little. See An- 
jou, Philippe, Due d'. 

Montausier, Due de, 264, 282, 
287, 297, 306 

Montausier, Mme. de, 263 

Montbazon, Duchesse de, 126 

Montchevreuil, M. de, 230 



Index 



389 



Montespan, Marquis de, 229 
Montespan, Marquise de, sup- 
plants La Valliere, 80, 193,209, 
2 10; marriage of, 172, 209, 229; 
description of, 209, 230; client 
of La Voisin, 210, 212, 342; 
criminal charges against, 212, 
344-348; position of, 233, 258- 
271. 315. 334-336; assumes 
habits of royalty, 233-235; 
relations of, with Lauzun, 
245, 246, 282, 287, 354; be- 
trays Lauzun, 290, 291, 296, 
309, 310, 322, 323; children 
of, 290, 344, 351, 352; ex- 
travagance of, ^^3, 336; char- 
acter of, 339, 340, 342; dis- 
missal of, 341, 342, 350, 351; 
evidence against destroyed, 

343 

Monteverde, Ariane, by, 214 

Montigny, Abbe de, 263 

Montmedy, 59 

Montmorency-Boutteville, 78 

Montmorency, 25 

Montpensier, Anne Marie Louise 
d' Orleans, Duchess of. La 
Grande Mademoiselle, possi- 
ble marriage of, with Louis 
XIV., 2, 48; character of, 2, 
56, 59, 184 

Montpensier, Mile., alliance of, 
with Conde, 3, 16, 17, 33, 38, 
45. 55. 56; exiled to Saint-Far- 
geau, 3-20,32-39, 43-48; hero- 
ine of Porte Saint-Antoine, 
3. 53. 58. 59. 72, 261, 370; 
amusements at court of St.- 
Fargeau, 7-10, 17-20, 148; 
literary tastes of, 8-10, 15, 18, 
73, 132, 221, 224-226, 229; 
begins her Mentoires, 15; 
rumoured marriage of, with 
Conde, 16; litigation of, with 
father, 34, 37, 41-44, Si-54; 
wealth of, 35-38, 145, 163, 
185, 256; skilful management 
of her affairs, 36, 37, 49; 
breaks with Conde, 46, 47, 52; 
makes overtures to Mazarin, 
47, 48; wins Champigny law- 
suit, 49-51, 125; pennitted to 
return to Court, 54, 55. 57-59", 



never fully forgiven, 58, 59, 
loi, 169, 186, 197, 370; pro- 
posed marriage of, with little 
Monsieur, 59, 73, 272-278; 
takes up residence in the 
Luxembourg, 72, 121, 122; 
popularity of, in Paris, 72, 
366; description of, 72-74; 
astonished at lack of eti- 
quette at Court, 75-79; visits 
Port-Royal, 79, 80; visits 
Dombes, 95, 96; Monsieur's 
duplicity towards, 98, 99; 
grieves at death of Monsieur, 
102, 103; present at marriage 
of Louis XIV., 105-111; ill- 
health of, 120; salon of, 122- 
125, 131-136, 148, 223, 224, 
226; describes blue room of 
Mme. de Rambouillet, 132, 
133; letters of, 160, 170, 183; 
letters to, 183, 188, 189, 348; 
proposed marriages of, 136- 
138; grudge of Charles II. 
against, 136, 137; King plans 
marriage of, with King of 
Portugal, 142-146, 160, 161; 
refuses to marry Alphonse, 
145-147, 160, 185; second 
exile of, 147, 160-170, 182, 
184; proposed marriage of, 
with Due de Savoie, 147, 185- 
190, 236; buys Comte d' Eu, 
161-168; installed at Eu, 169, 
170; recalled to Court, 184- 
187; failure of proposed mar- 
riages of, 189-192; patroness 
of Lulli, 221; cultivates Mme. 
de Montespan, 229, 230, 233- 
236; change in sentiments of, 
235; advancing age of, 236, 
254, 277, 278; infatuation of, 
for Lauzun, 238-242, 250, 
262, 279-281, 359, 360; de- 
scrilDes Lauzun, 248; makes 
proposals of marriage to, 251- 
256, 267-270, 279, 280; Lau- 
zun's treatment of, 253-256, 
261, 275-277, 279, 281, 357- 
360; proposed de Longueville 
marriage of, 256, 257, 270; 
as a traveller, 262-267; ^^ 
death-bed of Madame, 270- 



390 



Index 



272; King's tacit consent to 
marriage with Lauzun,_ 281- 
283, 286; criticism of projected 
marriage by all classes, 285, 
286; bestows principalities 
and titles upon Lauzun, 288, 
307; preparing for marriage, 
289, 290, 296; King refuses 
consent, 290-293, 295, 296, 
353 1 354'' marriage with Lau- 
zun broken ofE, 291-293, 296, 
297, 317, 326; appeals in vain 
to King, 291-293, 315, 316; 
grief and despair of, 296-303; 
widespread belief in secret 
marriage of, 304-309, 349, 
353, 358; learns of Lauzun' s 
arrest and imprisonment, 
310-314; efforts of, to obtain 
release of Lauzun, 317, 318, 
348-352; traditional daughter 
of, 349; price demanded from, 
for liberation of Lauzun, 351, 
352; makes Due du Maine her 
heir, 351, 352; tricked by- 
Louis and Mme. de Montes- 
pan, 354; Lauzun forced to 
renounce gifts of, 354; com- 
pensates Lauzun, 355; devo- 
tion of, to Lauzun after his 
liberation, 356-360; constant 
quarrels with Lauzun, 357- 
361; final break with Lauzun, 
362, 363, 366; illness and 
death of, 365, 366; burial of, 
at St. Denis, 366; last of 
actors in the Fronde, 369; 
great qualities of, 377 

Montpensier, Mile., Mewioires of, 
3, 4, 8, 15, 23, 36, 45. 55. 59. 
79, 97, 98, 102, 105, 106, 121, 
125, 131, 136, 138, 143, 160, 
169, 182, 210, 221, 222, 230, 
238-240, 255, 256, 262, 269, 
297. 305. 308, 315-317. 339. 
347. 348, 350. 353. 356, 361 

Montpensier, duchy of, 49; 
given to Lauzun, 288 

Montpensier, Henri de Bourbon, 
Due de, 42 

Montpensier, Henriette Cather- 
ine de Joyeuse, Duchesse de, 
42 



Montresor, Claude de Bourde- 

ville, Comte de, 161 
Montvoisin, Antoine, 206-208 
Montvoisin, Catherine "La Voi- 

sin" the poisoner, 207, 208, 

210, 212 
Morale de Salomon, La, 127 
Moret, raock siege of, 334, 335 
Morin the Jew, 76 
Mortemart, Mile, de (Mme. de 

Montespan), 172 
Motteville, Mme. de, 31, 49, 62, 

66, 116, 13s, 149, 150, 195; 

Memoires of, 73, 100, 104, 

109, 112, 113, 116, 135, 149, 

150, 154, 170, 190, 19s 
Mouchy, 199 



N 



Nallot, M. de, 310, 311 

Nantes, Revocation of Edict of, 

331. 374 

Necromancy, 202-207 

Negociations relatives d, la suc- 
cession d'Espagne (Mignet), 

143 . ^ 

Nemours, Henri de Savoie, Due 

de, 185 
Nemours, Marie-Jeanne Bap- 

tiste de, 190 
Nemours, the Mesdemoiselles 

de, 185, 190 
Nesmond, Presidente de, 90 
Nevers, Duchesse de, 347 
Nimeguen, peace of, 331 
Noailles, Due de (Comte d' 

Ayen), 270 
Noailles, Mme. de, 248 
Nogent, Mme. de, 290, 327-329 
Nolhac, M. de. La Creation de 

Versailles, by, 176 
Nouvelles Frangaises, Les (Se- 

grais), 8 
Nuitter and Thoinan, Les Ori- 

gines de V Opera Frangais, by, 

213 

O 

CEillets, Mile, des, 346 

CEuvres completes (Saint-Pierre), 

365 



Index 



391 



CEuvres galantes en vers et en 

prose (Co tin), 223 
CEuvres de Louis XI V. Lettres 

particulieres, 188 
Olivet, Abbe d', 222 
Opera, Italian, birth o£, 214- 

216; French, 215, 216 
Origines de V Opera Frangais, Les 

(Nuitter and Thoinan), 213 
Orleans, city of, 33, 34, 39, 42, 

49- 53 

Orleans, House of, 35, 37 

Orleans, Gaston, Due d' (Mon- 
sieur), character of. 3, 23-25, 
28-30, 44, 52, 97-99; exiled to 
Blois, 24-33; piety of, 29, 30; 
children of, 31, 34, 37, 39, 42, 
77. 97-99. 105. 106, 133, 134, 
137, 138, 186, 23s, 294; pil- 
lages daughter's fortune, 35- 
37, 39-44, 168; under Court 
protection, 38-40, 48, 49; 
litigation of, with Madem- 
oiselle, 37, 41-44, 51-54; 
death and burial of, loi, 102 

Orleans, Henrietta of England 
(Madame), wife of Philippe 
Due d'. See Henrietta 

Orleans, Marguerite de Lor- 
raine (Madame), second wife 
of Gaston, Due d', 24, 43, 191, 
285, 286; daughters of, 31, 34, 
37, 39, 42, 77, 97-99, 105. 106, 
133. 134, 137, 138, 186, 188, 
235, 294; character of, loi, 
102, 121, 122, 133, 134 

Orleans, Marguerite Louise, 
Mile, d', daughter of Mon- 
sieur, 97, 98, 133; marriage 
of, 137, 138 

Orleans, Marie Louise d', daugh- 
ter of little Monsieur, 277; 
marriage of, 277 

Orleans, Mgr. Due d', 162 

Orleans, Philippe, Due d'. See 
Anjou 

Ormesson, Andre d', 22, 48 

Ormesson, Olivier Lefevre d', 
Journal of, 48, 76, 118, 159, 
174, 177. 186, 194, 197, 285, 
287, 301, 331, 332, 335; dis- 
grace of, 118, 332 

Ormond, Marquis d', 137 



Palatine, Anne de Baviere, 
Princesse, 174 

Palatine, Anne de Gonzague 
Princesse, 106 

Palatine, Elisabeth Charlotte de 
Baviere, Princesse (Madame), 
second wife of Philippe Due 
d'Orleans, 62, 156, 315 

Paraphrases des sept Psaumes 
de la Penitence, 127 

Paris, Archbishop of, 287, 288 

Paris, King and Court return to, 
2, 19-21, 24, 65, no, 174, 281; 
opinion of King in, 71; com- 
mittee of relief founded in, 
87-93; carnival in, 93, 94; 
Queen's entrance into, in; 
commerce in, 142; magic arts 
in, 201-206, 342-344; bridges 
of, 206; lampoons against 
Louis in, 335; dungeons of, 
347; cradle of French revolu- 
tions, 370, 376 

Parliament, the, Louis XIV. 
dictates to, 19, 20, 23, 76; 
dictates to royalty, 68, 69; 
petition to, 162; decrees of, 
167, 168; privileges of, 371 

Parma, Due de, 189 

Patin, Guy, letters of, 71, 113, 
117 

Pedagogue chretien, 324 

Pellison, Lettres historiques, by, 
258 

Perefixe, Abbe de, 66, 67, 115 

Perroquet ou Les Amours de 
Mademoiselle, Le 257, 282 

Pertharite (Corneille), 80 

Petitot, editor Memoires of 
Louis Xiy., 66 

Phedre (Racine), 224 

Philip IV. of Spain, 103, 104, 
142, 149; interviews of, with 
Louis XIV. and Anne of Aus- 
tria, 1 06-1 10; death of, 173 

Picardy, 87, 165 

Pignerol, fortress of, 310, 311, 
318, 319, 325, 329, 351, 355, 
356, 358 

Pimbesche, Countess of, origi- 
nal of, 36, 191 



392 



Index 



Plaideurs (Racine), 227 
Plaisirs de I'lle enchantee, 176 
Poisons, Les (La Fontaine), 203 
Poland, Marie de Gonzague, 

Queen of, and Port-Royal, 88, 

92; letters to, 117, 174, 175, 

186 
Polexandre (Gomberville) , 11 
Polignac, Vicomtesse de, 344 
Pomponne, M. de, 293, 297; La 

Correspondance de Pomponne, 

297 
Pont Marie, 206 
Porchat, Jacques, and Miot, 

Histoire de France, tr. by, 99 
Porte Saint-Antoine, heroine of, 

3. 53. 59, 72, 370 
Port Royal des Champs, 79, 88, 

92 
Port-Royal (Sainte-Beuve), 82 
Portugal, independence of, 

threatened, 142; King of, 143- 

14s, 160, 185 
Portugal, Queen of, 190 
Precieuses Ridicules, Les (Mo- 

liere), 124 
Prefontaine, 33, 35, 36, 41, 43, 

44. 50. 53 
Princesse de Cleves (La Fayette) , 

153 
Princesse d' Elide (Moliere), 180, 

216 
Problemes Historiques (Loise- 

leur), 63 
Provinciales, the, 79 
Provins, 84 
Puyguilhem, Marquis de. See 

Lauzun 
Pyrenees, peace of the, 2, 99, 

100, 107 
Pyrrhus (Racine), 224 



Q 



"Queens, the three," 233 
Quinault, tragedies of, 80, 81, 
216, 217, 220 



R 



Racan, Honorat de Bueil, Mar- 
quis de. See Barthelemy 
Racine, Jean, tragedies of, 8, 81, 



223-229; and Corneille com- 
pared, 223-227; King's ap- 
preciation of, 224, 227, 228 

Racine, Louis, Memoires stir la 
Vie et les Ouvrages de Jean 
Racine, by, 227 

Rambouillet, Hotel, 14, 224 

Rambouillet, Mme. de, salon of, 
123 

Rampillon, 84 

Ranke, Leopold von, Histoire de 
France, by, 99, 330 

Rapin, Father, 181 

Ravaisson, ^Franf ois. Archives de 
la Bastille, by, 201, 312 

Ravetot, Marquis de, 211 

Regent, the, 62, 372, 374 

Reims, 55, 56 

Reims, Archbishop of, 288 

Relation de la Cour de France 
(Spanheim), 374 

Relation des Divertissements que 
le Roi a donnes aux Reines, La 
(Marigny), 173 _ 

Relation de Vile imaginaire. La 
(Mademoiselle), 18, 132 

Relattons des Ambassadeurs Ve- 
nitiens, 65 

Relations of de Bernieres, 87-90 

Remerciement au Rot (Moliere), 
231 

Retz, Cardinal de, 20, 24, 25, 

113, 369, 377 

Richelieu, 11, 25, 28, 30, 50, 55 

Robert, Procurer-General, 344 

Robespierre, 375 

Rochefort, 287, 336 

Roche-sur-Yon, 49 

Rocroy, 10 1 

Rodocanachi, M., Les Infortunes 
d'une petite-fille d' Henri IV., 
by, 138 

Rohan, Marie-Eleonore de. Ab- 
bess, 126, 127 

Roland furieiix, 178 

RoUand, Remain, Histoire de 
r Opera en Europe, by, 213,220 

Romecourt, 265, 266 

Roquelaure, 148 

Rosen, de, 84 

Rousseau, Sieur, 293 

Rousset, Camille, Histoire de 
Louvois, by, 364 



Index 



393 



Sainctot, Mme. de, 131 
Saint-Aignan, Due de, 178 
Saint Antoine de Padua, 205 
Saint-Cloud, Chateau of, 54, 269 
Saint-Cyr, 63 

Saint-Denis, burial of Mon- 
sieur at, 102; burial of 
Mademoiselle at, 366 
Sainte-Beuve, Port-Royal, by, 82 
Saint Evremond, The Operas, 

by, 218 
Saint-Fargeau, Chateau of. 
Mademoiselle exiled to, 3-6, 
36, 73; Mademoiselle's Court 
at, 6-10, 12, 17—20, 129— 131, 
135; Mademoiselle again ex- 
iled to, 147, 148, 160, 169 
Saint-Genevieve MS., 257 
Saint-Germain-des Pres, 73 
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Court 
at, 173, 177, 239, 247, 258, 
269, 310, 313, 318, 353, 354 
Saint -Jean-de-Luz, Court at, 
104. 108; marriage of Louis 
XIV., at, no 
Saint-Joseph, Convent of, 234 
Saint-Mars, Sieur de, 310, 311; 
letter of, 313; letters to, 318- 
321, 325-327, 329 
Saint-Paul, Comte de (Due de 

Longueville) , 256, 257 
Saint-Pierre, Bernardin de, 9; 

CEuvres completes of, 365 
Saint Quentin, 263 
Saint-Remi, Jacques de Court- 

avel, Marquis de, 134 
Saint-Romain, Abbe de, 143 
Saint Sacrement, Compagnie du, 
founding of, 85-87, 93; char- 
itable work of, 157, 158; nick- 
named, 157; disapproves of 
King's conduct, 157-159, 373; 
blow aimed at, 181; disorgan- 
isation of, 198, 199 
Saint-Severin, Church of, 210 
Saint-Simon, Due de, at Court, 
78, 116, 369, 370, 372; Me- 
moires of, 116, 161, 209, 212, 
234, 245, 255, 3_26, 353, 360, 
366-368 J 372; Ecrits inedits 
of, 354. 359, 363. 36.4 



Saint-Sulpiee, 73 

Saint Vincent de Paul, char- 
acter and influence of, 85; 
joins Compagnie du Saint 
Sacrem,ent, 87, 373; head of 
relief work, 88-90, 157 

Saint Vincent de Paul (Broglie), 
82, 91 

Saint-Vincent de Paul et les 
Gondi (Chantelauze) , 83 

Salic law, the, 105 

Sambre, the, 264 

Savoie, Charles Emmanuel II., 
Due de, marriages of, 99, 147, 
185, 186, 190, 236; revenges 
himself on Louis and Mile., 
189, 190 

Savoie, Marguerite, Princesse 
de, Louis XIV. refused to 
marry, 94, 96, 189; marries 
Due de Parma, 189 

Savoie, Victor- Amedee II., Due 
de, marriage of, 277 

Saxe-Jena, Bernard,r)ukeof, 125 

Scarron, Mme. de. See Main- 
tenon 

Sceaux, 357 

Scudery, Madeleine, Mile, de, 
258, 302; Artamene ou le 
Grand Cyrus, by, 11, 125; 
Saturdays of, 123, 124 

Scudery, Mme. de, 302, 342 

Sedan, 55-59, 73 

Segrais, Mademoiselle's secre- 
tary, 8, 9, 13, 134, 226, 286, 

306, 307, 349; Les Nouvelles 
Frangaises, by, 8, 9 

Segraisiana, 71, 279, 310 

Seignelay, 363, 364 

Seine, the, 206 

Sevigne, Mme. de, 75, 80, 134, 
177, 200; letters of, 2, 11, 129, 
217, 218, 225, 235, 287, 288, 

307, 310, 337, 338, 345, 347, 
362; letters to, 248, 284, 

364 
Soissons, Comtesse de, 237, 271, 

336, 341, 344 
Soissons, Marie de Bourbon-, 291 
Somaize, Le Dictionnaire des 

Precieuses, by, 13 
Sourches, Marquis de, Memoires 

of, 26 



394 



Index 



Souvenirs de Mme. de Caylus, 

ISO. 347 

Sovivenirs et Correspondance of 
Mme. de Caylus, 300 

Souvenirs sur Mme. de Main- 
tenon, 150, 219, 230, 341 

Spain, wars of, with France, 16, 
20, 23, 38, 55, 59, 83, 361; 
King of, 103, 104, 142, 149, 
173; etiquette of Court of, 
104-111; absolute monarchy 
an importation from, 118, 
371; war of Devolution in, 
154, 257; marriage of In- 
fanta of, — see Marie-Therese; 
power of France over, 171, 

Spanheim, Ezechiel, Relation de 

la Cour de France, by, 374 
Sports et jeux d'exercice dans 

I'ancienne France, Les (Jus- 

serand), 7 
Suite du Menteur (Corneille), 

241 



Tableau de la Penitence, he, 324 
Tallemant, 31 
Tarente, Princess of, 125 
Tartuffe (Moliere), 181, 182, 221, 

222, 374 
Terlon, Chevalier de, 293 
Theiner, Pere, 63 
The Operas (Saint Evremond), 

218 
Thianges, Mme. de, 266, 347 
Thoinan. See Nuitter 
Tingry, Princesse de, 344 
Tolstoi, Kreutzer Sonata, by, 220 
Torre, Don Diego de la, 282 
Toulouse, Court at, 99 
Tourraine, 50 
Tours, 346 

Tremouille, Mile, de la, 125, 137 
Treport, 166, 349 
Trevoux, 95 
Trianon, 235 

Trichateau, Marquis de, 343 
Tuileries, palace of the^ 4, 19, 

123 
Turenne, 20, 23, 53, 54, 61, 137, 



369; visits and letters of, to 
Mademoiselle, 143-146, 160 

Turin, 147, 319 

Tuscany, Duke of, 138 

U 

Urfe, Honore d', I'Astree, by, 14, 

80 
Uzes, Emmanuel II. de Crussol, 

Due d', 264 

V 

Valentinois, Duchess of, 75 
Vallot, 270 

Valois, Anne Marie de, daughter 
of the little Monsieur, 277; 
marriage of, 277 
Valois, Franfoise - Madeleine, 
Mile, de, daughter of Mon- 
sieur, 133; marriage and 
death of, 185, 188 
Vardes, 71, 148 
Vatel 128 

Vaujours, duchy of, 154 
Vendome, Elisabeth de, 185 
Vendame, M. de, 117 
Venice, opera houses of, 214 
Ventadour, Due de, 85, 86 
Versailles, palace of, 26; Louis 
XIV. takes up residence at, 
174, 370, 376; f^tes, 176-182, 
269, 333, 365, etc.; expenses 

of, 33(>^ 337 
Vers d'Atys, 81 
Vexin, Comte de, 235 
Vie de Madame de Fouquerolles 

(Mademoiselle), 132 
Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, 89 
Villeroy, Marechal de, 290 
Villeroy, Mme. de, 75 
Vincennes, iii, 347 
Vise, Donneau de Mecure Ga- 

lant, 365 
Vittori, 214 
Voiture, 131 
Voyage de Chapelle et de Bachau- 

mont, 32 

W 

Westphalia, peace of, 99 



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